Real world implementation, effectiveness and costs of trastuzumab in early breast cancer

Increasing knowledge in breast cancer biology has led to the development of various new targeted therapies. This dissertation provides insight into the effectiveness, safety and costs of trastuzumab in daily practice in the Netherlands. Trastuzumab is one of the first targeted therapies for breast cancer. It is shown that trastuzumab is effective in early breast cancer patients in daily practice, which is consistent with data from clinical trials. Recurrence of the disease is prevented in more than one-third of patients. The incidence of cardiac side effects is low. If they do occur, they tend to develop within the first six months of treatment. In addition, trastuzumab is shown to be cost-effective in daily practice. The use of real-life data provided extra information about subgroups of breast cancer patients in addition to data from clinical trials. In the future, insight into daily practice can form the basis of the decision-making process regarding expensive new drugs