A drug tested by researchers at LMU University Hospital can extend the lives of breast cancer patients for several years.
Advanced HER2-positive breast cancer generally leads to brain metastases, the dissemination of cancers to the brain. Current modes of treatment, such as radiotherapy and surgery, leave very few chances of survival for patients suffering from such metastases. A new medication has proved promising in a clinical study led by Prof. Dr. Med. Nadia Harbeck, Director of the Breast Center at LMU University Hospital.
The results of this new study, published now in Nature Medicine, show such a new treatment can dramatically increase survival times.
Breast cancer is divided into types based on its tumor biology. Around 50% of HER2-positive advanced-stage breast cancer patients develop brain metastases. Up until recently, these have been very challenging to treat due to the blood-brain barrier that prevents drugs from reaching the brain. This formed a desire for new therapies.
One such therapy is an ADC, trastuzumab deruxtecan, which links an antibody directed against the HER2 protein with a very potent cancer-killing drug. Administered by injection, trastuzumab zeroes in on those cancer cells that display the HER2 protein on their surfaces, carrying the drug directly to the tumor and bypassing healthy tissues. “That’s why it’s safe to use,” says Harbeck. Without this targeting, the drug would be too toxic.
To see how well the drug works, Harbeck was the lead researcher in the DESTINY-Breast12 clinical trial. That included over 500 patients from 78 cancer centers in Western Europe, Japan, Australia, and the United States. And the results looked promising. Patients-including those with brain metastases-lived an average of more than 17 months without the cancer getting worse. Over 60% of patients lived at least 12 months without the cancer growing. More than 70% of the patients showed shrinkage of the brain metastases. One year after treatment, 90% of the patients were still alive.
Harbeck added, “These results are a beacon of hope, especially for patients with brain metastases.”
This makes the drug a very promising option for HER2-positive breast cancer. A further current study, ADAPT HER2 IV, investigates the ADC in early-stage non-metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. Patients in this trial receive only four infusions of the drug before surgery-easing in the treatment process.
Currently, three ADCs are licensed for use in Germany, but many more may follow. “I believe there are many more to come,” says Harbeck.
ANI
