Applications and next steps
“The take-home message here is women should be tested if they have this subtype,” Dr. Nickles Fader said. “If they’re newly diagnosed, they should be tested for the HER2/neu receptor, and if [it is overexpressed] and they have advanced disease, we do recommend treatment with not only the conventional treatment, but with trastuzumab added to that, because that’s where we saw the most benefit.”
This is the only trial that has ever shown a major PFS and OS difference with combination targeted therapy and conventional chemotherapy in USC, Dr. Nickles Fader noted.
“So it was really exciting to see that,” she said, adding that a “much larger cooperative group trial” is being designed by the National Cancer Institute and NRG Oncology Group to look at this approach in HER2-positive, advanced-stage uterine cancers. The trial will include patients with USC, but it will extend to other uterine cancer types as well.
“We’re looking at different combinations of anti-HER2 therapies to sort of validate the results of this trial, but also to study this in other tumors that are HER2 positive,” Dr. Nickles Fader explained.
She also stressed the importance of addressing racial disparities in survival among women with USC, as African American women have higher rates of USC and related mortality than do other groups.
“It’s going to be important to look at not only molecular targets and improving survival but also racial inequalities and potentially epigenetics to really improve survival across the board,” Dr. Nickles Fader said.
She reported having no disclosures. The trial was sponsored by Yale University in collaboration with Genentech.
SOURCE: Nickles Fader A et al. SGO 2020, Abstract 12.