How to answer this question?

Question

A 45 year-old woman complaining of breast pain was diagnosed with having HER2-positive breast cancer. The patient underwent lumpectomy followed by a period of chemotherapy including adjuvant treatment. Over the course of their treatment, the patient developed a urinary tract infection that required antimicrobial therapy, which initially consisted of a trimethoprim/sulfametoxazole combination drug. However, the patient during the course of her therapy suffered multiple recurrent infections and was, consequently, enrolled in a clinical trial to test the efficacy of a new mannoside anti-infective agent.

Question: Discuss the mechanisms underpinning current therapeutic strategies for treating HER2-positive breast cancer. In your discussion, you should include details about managing therapeutic resistance and adverse side effects such as cardiotoxicity.

Answer 1

Hi Elena, This question is quite involved! Lets break it down into a few parts.

1. What are the current therapeutic strategies for treating HER2-positive breast cancer?
2. How are therapeutic resistance (such as antibiotic resistant infections) managed?
3. How are adverse side effects (such as cardiotoxicity) managed?

To answer these questions look through your lectures (slides, notes, handouts etc) and your book, as well as any case studies you may have been given. You may have to search in a medical database for journal articles on the most up to date research articles for the current therapeutic strategies for treating HER2-positive breast cancer. You should be able to access this through your school's library system. Let me know if I can help you out with anything else!