[Trastuzumab (herceptin) for the medical treatment of breast cancer].

Background: Trastuzumab is humanized monoclonal antibody targeting her 2 neu receptor, overexpressed in 20% of breast cancers and part of the complex of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor.

Aim: To review new advances in the knowledge of the practical use of "trastuzumab (Herceptin ®)" in breast cancer.

Methods: Review of literature using medical data bases (Medline, Science direct) with the following key words: breast cancer, targeted therapy, HER2 neu, transtuzumab/herceptine

Results: Trastuzumab represent an important advance in breast cancer treatment with an improvement of median survival in metastatic setting and overall and disease-free survival in adjuvant setting in association with chemotherapy.

[Update on medical therapies of nasopharyngeal carcinomas].

Nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC) are predominantly of undifferentiated type (UCNT or undifferentiated carcinoma of nasopharyngeal type), rare (<1/100,000) and sporadic in occidental countries, but endemic in the Mediterranean area of intermediate incidence (2 to 10/100,000) and highly frequent (>10/100,000) in South East Asia. NPC staging is based on TNM UICC 2002 that has a prognostic and therapeutic orientation impact. Irradiation of the primitive tumor and its extensions remains the standard loco-regional treatment.