Practical aspects of pertuzumab treatment in patients with breast cancer — management of the most common adverse events

Treatment outcomes of patients diagnosed with breast cancer with overexpression of the HER2 receptor have been significantly improved by the use of pertuzumab. Its use, however, is associated with the occurrence of various, more or less severe, adverse events. Some of them had already been observed in clinical practice during treatment with another monoclonal antibody directed against the HER2 receptor, trastuzumab. New toxicities, which occurred in a higher grade or significantly more frequently during treatment with pertuzumab are diarrhoea, neutropaenia and febrile neutropaenia, and skin toxicities. Their severity is generally acceptable, and proper management in the case of their occurrence is crucial for optimal causal treatment. This paper proposes schemes for management of the most common adverse events during the use of pertuzumab.