Dr. Perez on the Antibody-Drug Conjugate T-DM1

Edith A. Perez, MD, deputy director, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Florida, director, Breast Program, Serene M. and Frances C. Durling Professor of Medicine, Mayo Medical School, discusses the antibody-drug conjugate T-DM1 (trastuzumab emtansine) that is being investigated as a treatment for patients with HER2-positive, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

Perez believes T-DM1 is a marvelous drug and is glad that she was able to be involved in its development process. She notes that overall survival data from the phase III EMILIA trial showed a significant advantage for T-DM1 compared to the lapatinib plus capecitabine. In the trial, overall survival was 30.9 months for T-DM1 compared to 25.1 months. These results, Perez states, are practice changing and were the basis for FDA approval in February 2013 (Find out more).

Overall, Perez feels that T-DM1 is a very important agent that further stresses the utility of antibody-drug conjugates. The goal of these agents, Perez states, is to combine a targeted therapy with chemotherapy in order to minimize toxicity while increasing efficacy, which is accomplished with T-DM1.