Review Article

Targeted Therapies in Breast Cancer: Implications for Advanced Oncology Practice

Laura Bourdeanu, PhD, and Thehan Luu, MD

From The Sage Colleges, Troy, New York, and City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California

Authors' disclosures of potential conflicts of interest are found at the end of this article.

Laura Bourdeanu, PhD, The Sage Colleges, Department of Nursing, 65 1st Street, Troy, NY 12180. E-mail: lbourdeanu@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Abstract

The systemic therapeutic management of breast cancer has undergone significant transformation in the past decade. Without targeted therapies, conventional treatment with cytotoxic agents has reached the limit of its potential in terms of patient survival for most types of cancer. Enhanced understanding of the pathogenesis of tumor cell growth and metastasis has led to the identification of signaling growth pathways as targets for these directed therapies. Novel therapies targeted to HER2/neu, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), poly(ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), histone deacetylase (HDAC), the heat shock protein, and cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors have been developed and have demonstrated some efficacy in breast cancer. Recognition and management of the toxicities associated with targeted therapies is imperative. This review will describe the clinical development and utilization of targeted therapies currently in use or in clinical trials, with a focus on considerations for the oncology advanced practitioner.

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