Adam Brufsky, MD, Ph.D., Professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and also serves as the associate division chief for the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine. Dr. Brufsky is the medical director of the Magee-Women’s Cancer Program, part of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center; the associate director for clinical investigations at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center; and co-director of the Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center at UPMC. In this interview, he comments on HER2-low MBCC.
Approximately half of all initial breast tumors have low-level HER2 expression (HER2-low), characterized as immunohistochemically 1+ or 2+ and no HER2 gene amplification as assessed by in situ hybridization. This low HER2 expression is a possible new target for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), which are currently being researched. Little is known regarding the prevalence and prognostic importance of low HER2-expression in metastatic breast cancer until now (MBC).