PERSEPHONE
Six months of trastuzumab was almost as good as twelve, with half the heart toxicity, though twelve remains the global standard.
4-year DFS 89.4% vs 89.8% (HR 1.07), meeting non-inferiority; cardiac events requiring discontinuation 4% vs 8%. Other shorter-duration trials (PHARE, SOLD, Short-HER) were inconclusive, so most guidelines retain 12 months while accepting 6 in resource-limited settings.
- 89.4 vs 89.8 out of 100 alive without the cancer coming back at 4 years with 6 months trastuzumab compared with 12 months trastuzumab; 0.4 fewer per 100.
- On this measure the first group did worse, not better.
- Put another way, the treated group had about 7 percent higher chance of the event at any given time (hazard ratio 1.07, likely range 0.93 to 1.24).
- The likely range for the hazard ratio crosses 1, so the difference could be due to chance.
- This is a surrogate endpoint: it measures the cancer being controlled or absent on scans and tests, which often, but not always, translates into living longer.
- These results apply to the people the trial enrolled: Adjuvant HER2+ early breast cancer: 6 vs 12 months of trastuzumab. People in a different situation may not see the same effect.
- The trial selected people by a biomarker (HER2); the result should not be assumed for people whose cancer does not have it.
Numbers are from the trial as recorded here; see the source links in the table below. This is orientation, not medical advice: ask your team how closely the trial population matches you.
4,088 participants enrolled.
| Endpoint | Arm | n | Value | HR (95% CI) | p | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4-year disease-free survivalprimary | 6 months trastuzumab | 2,043 | 89.4% | 1.07 (0.93–1.24) | — | link |
| 12 months trastuzumab | 2,045 | 89.8% |
Pages like this
not linked directly; found by shared links- TrialAPT (adjuvant paclitaxel-trastuzumab)
Shares Trastuzumab, Wrong doses, HER2-positive breast cancer.
- TrialHER2CLIMB-05
Shares Trastuzumab, HER2-positive breast cancer.
- IdeaA risk-stratified cardio-oncology pathway for everyone receiving heart-toxic cancer therapy
Shares Trastuzumab, HER2-positive breast cancer.
- IdeaBiomarker-guided cardioprotection for everyone on cardiotoxic cancer therapy
Shares Trastuzumab, HER2-positive breast cancer.
- IdeaWHO prequalification plus pooled demand to push biosimilar prices below 10% of the originator
Shares Trastuzumab, HER2-positive breast cancer.
- PairingTucatinib + trastuzumab + capecitabine for brain metastases
Shares Trastuzumab, HER2-positive breast cancer.
- InstitutionInstituto Alexander Fleming
Shares Trastuzumab, HER2-positive breast cancer.
- PairingEarly FDG-PET response → chemotherapy omission (HER2+)
Shares Trastuzumab, HER2-positive breast cancer.