In the NOAH clinical trial, trastuzumab treatment for locally advanced breast cancer was associated with increased complete and overall response rate and improved event-free survival. The ability to identify this advantage in a relatively smaller number of patients (compared with adjuvant therapy trials) suggests that the neoadjuvant setting might serve to inform the design of adjuvant trials and indicate appropriate off-study adjuvant therapy.
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Heather L. McArthur declares she receives research/grant support from Genentech, Inc. Clifford A. Hudis declares he is a consultant for Genentech, Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline plc. He also receives research/grant support from Bristol-Myers Squibb.
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McArthur, H., Hudis, C. Neoadjuvant trial design: time for a brave new world?. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 7, 359–360 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2010.85
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2010.85
