Dr. Gwin on Potential Areas of Investigation With Alpha-TEA/Trastuzumab in Breast Cancer

William R. Gwin III, MD, acting instructor at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and acting instructor of the Tumor Vaccine Group at the University of Washington School of Medicine, discusses potential areas of investigation with the combination of alpha-tocopheryloxyacetic acid (alpha-TEA) and trastuzumab (Herceptin) in breast cancer.

During the 2020 ASCO Virtual Scientific Program, preliminary safety data from an ongoing phase 1 dose-escalation trial evaluating alpha-TEA/trastuzumab in patients with recurrent HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer were presented. The combination will need to show both clinical efficacy and safety before it is evaluated in a phase 2 trial, explains Gwin.

Looking to the future, it is not unreasonable to believe that the combination could be of benefit in the early-stage HER2-positive setting as well, augmenting pathologic complete response rates in the neoadjuvant setting and decreasing the risk of recurrence in the adjuvant setting. Ongoing research efforts are also testing the agent in combination with checkpoint inhibitors, as a way to provide synergistic benefit to patients with triple-negative breast cancer, concludes Gwin.