Key clinical point: Trastuzumab deruxtecan vs physician’s choice of chemotherapy reduced the risk for disease progression or death by ~50% in previously treated patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2)-low metastatic breast cancer (BC).
Major finding: Trastuzumab deruxtecan vs chemotherapy significantly improved the median progression-free survival in the overall cohort of patients (hazard ratio for disease progression/death [HR] 0.50; P < .001), irrespective of the hormone-receptor status (positive: HR 0.51; P < .001, or negative: HR 0.46; 95% CI 0.24-0.89). The incidence of grade ≥3 adverse events was 52.6% with trastuzumab deruxtecan and 67.4% with chemotherapy.
Study details : Findings are from the phase 3 DESTINY-Breast04 study including 557 patients with HER2-low metastatic BC who were previously treated with 1 or 2 lines of chemotherapy and were randomly assigned to receive trastuzumab deruxtecan or physician’s choice of chemotherapy.
Disclosures: This study was supported by Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca. Four authors declared being employees or stockholders of Daiichi Sankyo, and the other authors reported ties with various sources, including AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo.
Source: Modi S et al. Trastuzumab deruxtecan in previously treated HER2-low advanced breast cancer. N Engl J Med. 2022;387:9-20 (Jun 5). Doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2203690