HER2 Concerns at the Heart of Advocacy for Liquid Biopsy Technology Development in Breast Cancer

By: Celeste L. Dixon
Posted: Monday, March 3, 2025

The conclusions of an article in the Journal of Cancer Metastasis and Treatment point first to the misdiagnosis of HER2 status as a crucial issue that strongly impacts the prognostic and therapeutic results for patients with breast cancer and second to the pressing need for high-quality, high-sensitivity, rapid methods to detect HER2 expression levels. Antonio Giordano, MD, PhD, of the Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) at Temple University, Philadelphia, and colleagues particularly emphasize liquid biopsy technologies such as circulating tumor DNA and circulating tumor cell analysis to provide a noninvasive approach for tumor-associated biomarker assessment.

“Enhancing diagnostic techniques to discern the subtle distinctions between HER2-low and HER2-zero tumors is essential, as these differences can significantly influence treatment decisions and ultimately improve patient outcomes,” the investigators stated. “Ultimately, the integration of liquid biopsy technologies into clinical practice has the potential to significantly enhance patient care and survival outcomes,” commented Dr. Giordano in an SHRO press release.

Dr. Giordano and co-investigators wrote that liquid biopsy is a transformative technologic advancement. Because it enables sensitive, accurate calculations of multiple target genes from bodily fluids, the approach “holds considerable promise for improving patient survival by addressing three critical aspects of cancer care: multicancer early detection, determination of tumor therapeutic response, and monitoring for [measurable] residual disease [MRD],” they declared.

MRD is currently used as a measure in hematologic malignancies. With the expansion of liquid biopsy use, MRD monitoring may include solid tumors such as breast cancer. The real-time aspect of this monitoring allows for facile adjustments of treatments and treatment strategies, in some cases even preventing relapse, according to the investigators.

Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit oaepublish.com.

Journal of Cancer Metastasis and Treatment

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