cancers Review Brain Metastases in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Current and Novel Treatment Strategies Alejandro Garcia-Alvarez 1 , Andri Papakonstantinou 2,3,4 and Mafalda Oliveira 1,2,* 1 Medical Oncology Department, Vall d’Hebron Hospital, 08035 Barcelona, Spain;
[email protected] 2 Breast Cancer Group, Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), 08035 Barcelona, Spain;
[email protected] 3 Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institute, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden 4 Department of Breast Cancer, Endocrine Tumors and Sarcoma, Karolinska University Hospital, 17176 Stockholm, Sweden * Correspondence:
[email protected] Simple Summary: Development of brain metastases is an important event for patients with breast cancer, and it affects both their survival and their quality of life. Patients with HER2-positive breast cancer are more commonly affected by brain metastases compared to patients with HER2- negative/hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. It is essential to find proper therapies that reduce the risk for metastasis in the brain, as well as agents that are active when metastatic lesions develop. Management of HER2-positive breast cancer has drastically improved in recent years due to the development of several drugs targeting the HER2 receptor. This review aims to provide insight into current and novel treatment strategies for patients with brain metastases from HER2-positive breast Citation: Garcia-Alvarez, A.; cancer. Papakonstantinou, A.; Oliveira, M. Brain Metastases in HER2-Positive Abstract: Development of brain metastases can occur in up to 30–50% of patients with breast cancer, Breast Cancer: Current and Novel representing a significant impact on an individual patient in terms of survival and quality of life.