Background Lapatinib has been approved for the treatment of patients with advanced stage HER2-positive breast cancer (BC) patients with moderate survival rates.

Purpose To analyse the prescription profile used and the demographic and clinical characteristics of HER2-positive breast cancer (BC) patients treated with lapatinib.

Material and methods A retrospective observational study was performed. Patients with HER2-positive BC aged ≥18 years were included and with a minimum follow-up of 5 years after diagnosis.

Clinical and socio-demographic data were collected through the digital medical record. The variables were: family background of BC, lymph node involvement, oestrogen and progesterone receptors, ki67 antigen, stage, tumour size, histological type, treatments prescribed and overall survival (OS). OS was measured as the time from the diagnosis of the disease to the date of exitus or end of the follow-up.

Results We included 35 patients with a mean age of 46±10.1 years. Twenty patients (20/35) had lymph node involvement. Fifty per cent were pre-menopausal. Six patients (6/34) presented family background of BC. Fourteen patients (14/35) developed brain metastases during their illness. All patients presented ductal infiltrating histological type. Oestrogen and progesterone receptors were positive in 53.3% and 66.6%, respectively. 46.1% of the patients had a high ki67 index. 64.9% of the patients had early stages and only one patient had a stage IV at the moment of the diagnosis. Tumour size was 2.42±0.93 cm. All patients progressed after the initial treatment with combinations of radiotherapy, anthracyclines, taxanes and trastuzumab and hormonal treatment according to their hormone receptor positivity. Lapatinib therapy was initiated along with capecitabine in the third line in four patients, fourth and fifth line in 10 patients, respectively. Four patients started the drug in the sixth line and two in the eighth line as off-label therapy together with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin. Four patients did not die during the follow-up period and the mean OS was 60.2 months.

Conclusion Lapatinib has been used in all patients in late lines even as an off-label treatment when alternatives were no longer available. Initially the majority of the patients did not present metastases although later they developed it and the OS was around 5 years.

No conflict of interest