Episode 341: Pharmacology 101: HER Inhibitors

“Key thing here is that it was discovered that when you have gene amplification of HER2 you get a resultant overexpression of that HER protein and that overexpression leads to a driver for certain cancers. So, when you have an overexpression of HER2, it leads to the cancer being more aggressive,” ONS member Rowena “Moe” Schwartz, PharmD, BCOP, FHOP, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about HER inhibitors.
Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust (www.incompetech...) ” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 
Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by December 13, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Learning outcome: The learner will report an increase in knowledge related to HER inhibitor drugs.
Episode Notes 

• Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. (courses.ons.or...)  
• Oncology Nursing Podcast™ Pharmacology 101 series  (www.ons.org/ed...)
• ONS Voice articles:
• Antibody-Drug Conjugates Join the Best of Two Worlds Into One New Treatment (www.ons.org/pu...)
• HER2 Therapies May Be Effective in a Variety of Solid Tumors (www.ons.org/pu...)
• Management Strategies for Cutaneous Toxicity From EGFR Inhibitors (www.ons.org/pu...)
• Manage Common Ocular Toxicities From Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (www.ons.org/06...)
• Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Combination Trastuzumab and Hyaluronidase-Oysk (www.ons.org/pu...)
• Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Elacestrant (www.ons.org/pu...)
• Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Margetuximab-Cmkb (www.ons.org/pu...)
• Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Talazoparib (www.ons.org/pu...)

• ONS book: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (www.ons.org/bo...) (Second Edition) 
• ONS courses: 
• ONS Cancer Biology™ (www.ons.org/st...)  
• ONS/ONCC Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate™ (www.ons.org/st...)  
• Safe Handling Basics (www.ons.org/st...)  

• ONS Biomarker Database (biomarkers.ons...)
• ONS Learning Libraries:
• Genomics and Precision Oncology (www.ons.org/ge...)
• Oral Anticancer Medication (www.ons.org/le...)  

To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities (communities.ons...) .
To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library (www.ons.org/le...) .
To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email [e-mail] (mailto:[e-mail]?subject=Website%20feedback%20from:%20Oncology%20Drug%20Reference%20Sheet:%20Trilaciclib) .
Highlights From This Episode
“It was discovered that when you have gene amplification of HER2, you get a resultant overexpression of that HER protein, and that overexpression leads to a driver for certain cancers. So, when you have an overexpression of HER2, it leads to the cancer being more a...