Rapid tumor shrinkage with lapatinib plus capecitabine in a patient with massive liver involvement.

Abstract

We present the case of a 58-year-old woman with breast cancer metastasizing to the liver after adjuvant chemotherapy. A liver biopsy confirmed metastatic lesions from breast cancer that were immunohistochemically positive for estrogen/progesterone receptors and HER2. After first-line treatment with trastuzumab and vinorelbine, the patient commenced therapy with capecitabine (1000 mg/m2 twice daily, days 1-14) and lapatinib (1250 mg/day). Three months after the administration of this combination therapy, the liver metastases had shrunk substantially. Lapatinib may have the potential to convert trastuzumab-refractory tumors to trastuzumab-sensitive tumors in HER2-positive breast cancer by upregulation of the cell surface expression of HER2. Further study will be needed to evaluate in the clinic the combination of lapatinib and an m-TOR inhibitor as a treatment approach in HER2 overexpressing breast cancer that shows a poor response to trastuzumab.

• Authors: Francesco Giotta, Agnese Latorre, Antonio Cramarossa, Giovanni Simone, Carlo Florio, Stefano Oliva, Vito Lorusso
• Journal: Tumori (Tumori) 2013 Nov-Dec Vol. 99 Issue 6 Pg. 278e-81e ISSN: 2038-2529 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 24503803 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
• Biomarkers, Tumor
• Quinazolines
• Receptors, Estrogen
• Receptors, Progesterone
• Lapatinib
• Deoxycytidine
• Vinblastine
• Capecitabine
• ERBB2 protein, human
• Receptor, ErbB-2
• Trastuzumab
• Vinorelbine
• Fluorouracil

Topics

• Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized (administration & dosage)
• Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols (therapeutic use)
• Biomarkers, Tumor (analysis)
• Breast Neoplasms (drug therapy, pathology, surgery)
• Capecitabine
• Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
• Deoxycytidine (administration & dosage, analogs & derivatives)
• Drug Administration Schedule
• Female
• Fluorouracil (administration & dosage, analogs & derivatives)
• Humans
• Immunohistochemistry
• Lapatinib
• Liver Neoplasms (diagnostic imaging, drug therapy, secondary)
• Middle Aged
• Quinazolines (administration & dosage)
• Receptor, ErbB-2 (analysis)
• Receptors, Estrogen (analysis)
• Receptors, Progesterone (analysis)
• Tomography, X-Ray Computed
• Trastuzumab
• Treatment Outcome
• Up-Regulation
• Vinblastine (administration & dosage, analogs & derivatives)
• Vinorelbine