Study finds breast cancer driver, HER2, in 3 percent of lung cancers

The Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium at the University of Colorado Cancer Center reports this week in the journal Cancer that 24 of 920 patients (3 percent) with advanced-stage lung cancer had mutations in the gene HER2. Seventy-one percent of these patients were never-smokers, with a median age of 62. The gene HER2 has been known as a breast cancer driver, with therapies approved to target HER2 mutations in this setting. Now ongoing clinical trials are evaluating the use of HER2-directed therapy against lung cancer testing positive for the mutation. By identifying a significant population of HER2+ lung cancer patients, the current study demonstrates the need for these therapies.