An Analysis of the APT Trial

Julie R. Gralow, MD, director, Breast Medical Oncology, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, clinical research division, member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Care Center, professor, Medical Oncology Division, University of Washington School of Medicine, gives an overview of a phase II study of adjuvant paclitaxel and trastuzumab (APT trial) for node-negative, HER2-positive breast cancer.

Clinical Pearls:

• The only chemotherapy that was given during the phase II trial was 12 weeks of weekly paclitaxel, which was followed by 9 months of trastuzumab
• 3-year disease-free survival was 98.7%
• The only death that occurred was from ovarian cancer
• Based on the findings of this study, physicians are wondering if patients with tumors of < 1 cm even need chemotherapy, especially if they are ER+