I am happy to report some excellent news from the oncology research community. Results of a recent clinical trial show very positive patient outcomes and a new standard of care for breast cancer treatment.
DESTINY-Breast04 is the first randomized clinical trial to show that targeting HER2 provides clinically meaningful benefits for patients with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer. The trial establishes the drug, Trastuzumab Deruxtecan, as a new standard of care for HER2-Low Metastatic Breast Cancer.
The breast cancer treatment Destiny-Breast04 trial findings show:
- Trastuzumab Deruxtecan (T-DXd) improved median progression-free survival by 4.8 months and median overall survival by 6.6 months compared with standard single-agent chemotherapy in this heavily pre-treated patient population.
- Based on 18.4 months of median follow-up, T-DXd conferred a 50% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death (median PFS: 9.9 vs 5.1 months; HR 0.50, 95% CI [0.40, 0.63]; P< .0001), along with a 36% reduction in the risk of death (median OS: 23.4 vs 16.8 months; HR 0.64, 95% CI [0.49, 0.84]; P = .0010).
These impressive findings earned lead investigator Shanu Modi, MD, of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, a standing ovation following her Plenary Session presentation at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting.
“Traditionally, we would have offered patients in this setting single-agent palliative chemotherapy,” she remarked. “However, we can now offer these patients the opportunity to receive a targeted therapy that is associated with superior outcomes and a survival advantage.”
As a rule, patients with advanced breast cancer featuring low HER2 expression levels are diagnosed with HER2-negative disease because HER2-targeted therapies typically prove to be ineffective in this setting. The randomized phase 3 DESTINY-Breast04 trial upends this paradigm, opening the door to a new treatment option for the large subset of patients with HER2-low disease
So what does this mean for Breast Cancer patients today? In Australia at present, the treatment is only available through self-funding options; but there is a push to ensure it becomes a funded option in the future.
To read the full report, please click HERE.
If you would like more information, please speak to me or any of the Oncologists here at Tasman Health Care.
About the Author:
DR ANDREW HILL (DIRECTOR) BHB, MBChB, FRACP
Dr Hill is a Medical Oncology Specialist working publicly at Gold Coast University Hospital and privately at Tasman Health Care with accreditation at Gold Coast Private Hospital, Pindara Private Hospital and John Flynn Private Hospital. He works in a collegial peer reviewed environment, holds an academic title at Griffith University and is a Principal Investigator in multiple clinical trials at Tasman Oncology Research Ltd. Born and trained in New Zealand then relocated to the Gold Coast in early 2009 with his wife and children.
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