Multicentric, Randomized Phase III Trial of Two Different Adjuvant Chemotherapy Regimens plus Three Versus Twelve Months of Trastuzumab in Patients with HER2-Positive Breast Cancer (Short-HER Trial; NCT00629278)

Abstract

Trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody against the HER2 receptor, is currently approved as a part of adjuvant therapy for patients with HER2-overexpressing breast tumors. The Short-HER study is a phase III randomized, multicentric Italian trial aimed at testing the optimal duration of adjuvant trastuzumab. In this trial, 2500 patients with HER2-positive breast cancer will be randomized to receive the following: (arm A, long) 4 courses of anthracycline-based chemotherapy (doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide or epidoxorubicin/cyclophosphamide) followed by 4 courses of docetaxel or paclitaxel in combination with trastuzumab, followed by 14 additional courses of trastuzumab administered every 3 weeks (for a total of 18 3-weekly doses of trastuzumab); or (arm B, short) 3 courses of 3-weekly docetaxel in combination with weekly trastuzumab (for a total of 9 weekly doses of trastuzumab) followed by 3 courses of 5-fluorouracil/epirubicin/cyclophosphamide. The primary objective is disease-free survival.