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Neratinib/ Neratinib is a targeted drug that works by irreversibly binding to and inhibiting specific receptors on the surface of cancer cellsHER2, HER4 and EGFR receptors, which receive signals that tell cancer to grow and spread. Neratinib is also an oral panHER inhibitor that irreversibly inhibits the tyrosine kinase activity of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR or HER1), HER2 and HER4, thereby reducing the phosphorylation and activation of downstream signaling pathways.

Unlike chemotherapy, which tends to kill all rapidly dividing cells, neratinib targets only those cells with specific receptors that are found in unusually high numbers in Her2-positive breast cancer cells. Neratinibbinds to these receptors, inhibiting their activity, their ability to direct the activity of other cells, and tumor growth. Neratinib belongs to a class of drugs called tyrosine kinase inhibitors, which may also be called irreversible panHER inhibitors.

For patients who have already received trastuzumab, neratinib can be used to continue to treat earlyHER2-positive breast cancer; at the same time it can also be used in combination with the chemotherapy drug capecitabine for adult patients with advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have received two or more previous antiHER2 regimens. Although neratinib is a targeted therapy, it is different from other targeted therapies such as Herceptin (generic name: trastuzumab), Kadcyla (generic name: ado-trastuzumab emtansine), or pertuzumab (generic name: pertuzumab). Immune-targeted therapies are like antibodies produced by our immune system. Neratinib is not an antibody.