Neoadjuvant Taxane Plus Trastuzumab and Pertuzumab With or Without Carboplatin in Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2–Positive Breast Cancer: The Randomized Noninferiority Phase III neoCARHP Trial

A phase III randomized noninferiority trial (neoCARHP), published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, investigated whether carboplatin can be safely omitted from the neoadjuvant regimen of taxane plus trastuzumab and pertuzumab in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. The trial addresses a critical clinical question about treatment de-escalation, aiming to reduce the well-known toxicity burden of platinum-based chemotherapy without compromising pathological complete response rates. HER2-positive breast cancer accounts for roughly 15–20% of all breast cancers, and optimizing neoadjuvant regimens has direct implications for thousands of patients globally. Results from this large randomized study, now published in one of the field's most prestigious journals, are expected to inform clinical guidelines on whether carboplatin remains a necessary component of anti-HER2 neoadjuvant therapy.