Mechanisms of drug resistance in HER2-positive breast cancer cells and methods to overcome

Abstract. Breast cancer (BC) has become one of the major malignant tumors affecting women's health in recent years, and the expression of human epidermal growth factor HER2 elevates the proliferation and migration of BC tumors. The HER2-targeted drug trastuzumab is initially effective, but resistance can develop after a period of time. There is currently no particularly effective approach to drug resistance in HER2-positive BC. In this paper, we have compiled and summarized several major drug resistance mechanisms of HER2-positive BC cells and proposed several coping strategies, suggesting the possibility of immunotherapy, as well as providing theoretical references for future immunotherapy for the remaining tumors. However, the safety of immunotherapy has not yet been demonstrated, and future studies could focus on ensuring the safety and prognosis of patient treatment.