Advances in Systemic Treatment of Breast Cancer — Interactive Summary
For healthcare professionals. Educational summaries of published literature; not patient-specific medical advice. Always consult the original publication.
A 2026 New England Journal of Medicine review (Hurvitz, 2026; full citation below) summarizes how systemic therapy for breast cancer has evolved since 2020: 17 targeted therapies approved or expanded across hormone-receptor-positive, HER2-positive, and triple-negative subtypes, spanning both metastatic and curative-intent treatment.
Key findings
- In HR-positive, HER2-negative disease, CDK4/6 inhibitors remain foundational; PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway inhibitors, oral SERDs, and antibody-drug conjugates have expanded options after endocrine resistance.
- In HER2-positive disease, antibody-drug conjugates — particularly trastuzumab deruxtecan — have improved outcomes and are moving into earlier lines of therapy.
- In triple-negative disease, immune checkpoint inhibitors have improved outcomes in both metastatic and early-stage settings, alongside newer antibody-drug conjugates.
- Across subtypes, curative-intent treatment increasingly emphasizes risk-adapted escalation and de-escalation, guided by molecular profiling.
Explore the full dataset
The interactive dashboard below lets you filter every reported outcome, drug approval, and biomarker from the review by clinical phase (HR+/HER2− metastatic and early-stage, HER2+ metastatic and early-stage, triple-negative metastatic and early-stage), search the full data table, and see each figure's exact source page.
Clinical phases, reported outcomes, 25 drug approvals, and 13 biomarker-guided options — all traced to their source page, nothing estimated.
Open the interactive dashboard →Source: Hurvitz SA. Advances in Systemic Treatment of Breast Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2026;395(14):1409-1425. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra2500695. Copyright © 2026 Massachusetts Medical Society.
Last reviewed: October 12, 2026
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Independent visualization of published data. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the authors or journal. Summary written by Dr. Zubair Ali.
Conflict of interest: this page is an independent summary with no sponsor, drug, or device promotion, and no affiliate links. The reviewed article's own disclosure forms are available with its full text at NEJM.org.
Views expressed are my own and do not represent my employer or any institution.