Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31019438›Full record

ReviewBreast care (Basel, Switzerland)2019

Biosimilar Trastuzumab in Clinical Trials: Differences or Not?

Marc Thill

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Breast care (Basel, Switzerland), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Safety profile of trastuzumab originator vs biosimilars: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Marc ThillDepartment of Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology, Breast Center, AGAPLESION Markus Hospital, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In the last decade, cancer therapies have increasingly taken the form of combination treatments in which biologic agents play a crucial role. In breast cancer, the treatment strategy is adjusted to intrinsic subtypes such as human epidermal growth factor receptor-2(HER2)-positive. With the introduction of trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody against HER2, survival has significantly improved in early and metastatic breast cancer. Trastuzumab's patent has now expired and biosimilars are moving into the market. Several clinical trials have led to the approval of 5 different biosimilar trastuzumabs. Results proved similarity between the proposed biosimilar and the reference product without significant differences in efficacy and safety, although follow-up has been short. However, the shorter drug development process with its goal of showing similarity rather than patient benefit uses surrogate endpoints such as pathologic complete response and overall response rate, not survival endpoints in terms of the 'gold standarD' in evaluating cancer therapies. The aim of this article is to give insight into how to plan and perform a clinical trial to prove equivalence between a biosimilar trastuzumab and its reference product and to elucidate the setup and outcome of published clinical trials.

Indexed as

BiosimilarsHER2-directed treatmentHerceptinTrastuzumab

Identifiers

PMID31019438
PMCPMC6465702

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.