HER2-positive cancer therapy — review of clinical findings and of molecular genetic features of the signaling pathway; [Терапия HER2-положительного рака желудка — обзор молекулярно-генетических особенностей сигнального пути, результатов клинических исследований]

Gastric cancer (GC) is a malignant tumor with a low overall survival rate, which usually has an aggressive course. Despite recent advances in surgery, chemotherapy and molecular genetic techniques, the prognosis is extremely poor. For this reason, it is an important to find additional therapeutic targets. Previously, HER2-targeted therapy demonstrated high efficacy in the treatment of breast cancer. This inspired the search for high levels of HER2 (epidermal growth factor receptor 2) expression in malignant tumors of other localizations. The findings showed that HER2 is overexpressed in approximately 10%-20% of gastric adenocarcinomas. ToGA clinical trial results allowed to include trastuzumab in the first-line systemic chemotherapy of inoperable locally disseminated and metastatic HER2-positive gastric cancer. This literature review is dedicated to comprehensive examination of HER2-oriented targeted therapy for gastric cancer treatment. It reveals molecular and genetic features of this signaling pathway, evaluates the results of existing clinical studies, and searches for new promising cancer drugs. © 2023 Izdatel'stvo Meditsina. All rights reserved.