Key clinical point: Achievement of pathologic complete response with targeted therapy in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer portends good long-term outcomes.

Major finding: Relative to peers who did not achieve pathologic complete response, women who did achieve pCR had much better 9-year event-free survival (77% vs. 61%; adjusted hazard ratio, 0.48; P = .0008) and overall survival (88% vs. 72%; adjusted hazard ratio, 0.37; P = .0004).

Study details: Final analysis of a phase 3, randomized trial of neoadjuvant lapatinib, trastuzumab, or lapatinib-trastuzumab among 455 women with HER2-positive breast cancer tumors measuring at least 2 cm (NeoALTTO/BIG 1-06 trial).

Disclosures: The study was funded by Novartis. Dr. Nuciforo disclosed no conflicts of interest.