Dr. Garon on the Role of Trastuzumab Deruxtecan in Lung Cancer

Edward B. Garon, MD, director of Thoracic Oncology at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of California, Los Angeles, discusses remaining questions with fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (Enhertu) in the field of lung cancer.

There is enthusiasm regarding the use of the antibody-drug conjugate in lung cancer based on the favorable efficacy that has been demonstrated in breast cancer, says Garon. However, in breast cancer, HER2 as a genomic target is a bit different than breast cancer with amplification of the HER2 gene. In lung cancer, HER2 tends to be a mutation. Although a small number of patients have received treatment with this agent to date, the data with the ADC are encouraging, according to Garon.

This is particularly important agents targeting HER2 mutations in lung cancer have not been very successful. Agents such as dacomitinib (Vizimpro) and afatinib (Gilotrif) do have some activity against HER2, but great efficacy has yet to reported, concludes Garon.