Case Report: Pathological complete response yet early brain relapse in HER2-positive breast cancer: a case-based review. (PubMed, Front Immunol)
We report a 60-year-old woman with HER2-positive, hormone receptor-negative breast cancer who achieved pCR after neoadjuvant docetaxel combined with trastuzumab and pertuzumab, followed by 12 months of maintenance trastuzumab and pertuzumab. Emerging CNS-active therapies, including small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as tucatinib and next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) like trastuzumab deruxtecan, have shown promising intracranial activity. In addition, advanced strategies such as intensified MRI surveillance, radiomics, liquid biopsy, focused ultrasound-mediated BBB disruption, nanoparticle delivery systems, and radionuclide therapy offer potential avenues for early identification and prevention of cerebral metastases.