There were patients with breast cancer that had been progressing despite the harsh treatment. A treatment with a drug that targeted cancer cells with laserlike precision was stunningly successful, slowing the growth of tumors and extending the life of patients.
The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
According to Dr. Winer, this is a new standard of care. He said that it affects a lot of people.
HER2 is a common villain in breast and other cancer and was the focus of the trial. Drugs that block HER2 have been stunningly effective in treating breast cancers that are almost entirely populated with theprotein, turning HER2 positive breast cancers from those with some of the worst prognoses into ones where patients fare very well.
About 15 to 20 percent of breast cancer patients have HER2 positive cases, according to Dr. Halle Moore. The drugs did not help patients with only a few HER2 cells. Only a small portion of their cancer cells had HER2 and other genes. The problem was that the cancer cells did not respond to treatment.
More than 500 patients with breast cancer who were HER2 low were part of the trial. The experimental drug, trastuzumab deruxtecan, sold as Enhertu, was taken by two-thirds of the population.
In patients who took trastuzumab deruxtecan, tumors stopped growing for about 10 months, as compared with 5 months for those who did not take the drug. The patients with the experimental drug lived for more than two years.
Some patients in the study were able to live six months longer than the average patient. An improved quality of life is the main benefit of a clinical trial.
The researchers got a standing applause when they presented their data at the conference.
Even though trastuzumab deruxtecan was approved for patients with HER2 positive breast cancer, few expected it to work.
The drug is designed to look for HER2 on the surface of cells. The drug has something attached to it. When trastuzumab deruxtecan finds a cell with HER2 on its surface, it enters the cell and kills it.
There is something unique and distinct about trastuzumab deruxtecan. It can move into nearby cancer cells and kill them.
Three patients died in the trials of trastuzumab deruxtecan due to lung injuries and other side effects.
If I were a patient with breast cancer and I needed a drug with side effects, I would prefer this one.
According to doctors, they are going to try the treatment on breast cancer patients who have low HER2 levels.
There is progress in the field Research has changed the way cancer is treated. Some recent updates are listed here.
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Susan Domchek is a breast cancer specialist at the University of Pennsylvania. Before the FDA approves trastuzumab deruxtecan for HER2 low patients, she will look at the data from the new study to see if it will convince insurers to approve the drug.
trastuzumab deruxtecan is not a drug for earlier stage breast cancer and must be tested in that group of patients. Testing the drug in other cancers is likely to be the next step.
He said that the strategy would allow researchers to zoom in on tumors that were only sparse.
Dr. Winer said that this is more than just a drug. It gives us the ability to take potent therapies to cancer cells.
Mary Smrekar, age 55, of Medina, Ohio, was one of the patients in the study.
Her cancer stopped growing.
She thought she was clear.
The cancer returned in the year 2019. She had seen it spread to her body.
The trial was held at the Cleveland Clinic. The tumors stopped growing after she was diagnosed.
Ms. Smrekar was happy to get another two years. My daughter is going to get married. I wasn't sure I'd make it to the wedding.
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