Dr. Hamilton on the DESTINY-Breast01 Trial in HER2+ Breast Cancer

Erika P. Hamilton, MD, director of the Breast Cancer and Gynecologic Research Program and principal investigator at Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses the phase II DESTINY-Breast01 trial in advanced HER2-positive breast cancer.

In the trial, patients with heavily pretreated HER2-positive breast cancer received trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (Enhertu; DS-8201). Patients had a median of 6 prior lines of therapy in the metastatic setting. After a median follow-up of 11.1 months, the median progression-free survival (PFS) with the agent was 16.4 months in all comers, and 18.1 months in patients with brain metastases.

In addition, trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki has shown signals of activity in patients with HER2-low disease, says Hamilton. The drug is currently under investigation in the phase III DESTINY-Breast04 trial, where patients will be randomized to receive either trastuzumab deruxtecan or investigator’s choice. If the trial is positive, it may redefine the meaning of HER2-positivity and provide treatment for patients who would have otherwise been denied HER2-targeted therapy, concludes Hamilton.