The Effectiveness of Trastuzumab Combined with Sequential Chemotherapy for Metastatic Gastric Carcinoma with Overexpression of HER2

Abstract

Metastatic gastric carcinoma is a mortal disease with a median survival of barely 10 months. An approximate 20% of the cases overexpress HER2, and among them, the combination of chemotherapy with trastuzumab is actually the first-line palliative treatment. However, after progression, sequential strategies of chemotherapy while maintaining trastuzumab have been barely researched. We report the case of a patient with a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma in the gastroesophageal junction with overexpression of HER2, in stage IV, treated with sequential chemotherapy and trastuzumab, who survived more than 5 years during the metastatic phase maintaining a good quality of life.

Keywords

• Adenocarcinoma
• Chemotherapy
• Trastuzumab