Dr. Louis Weiner Discusses the T-DM1 EMILIA Trial

Louis M. Weiner, MD, Director, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Associate Vice President, Georgetown University Medical Center, discusses the phase III EMILIA trial that investigated the antibody drug conjugate trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) for women with HER2 overexpressing locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

The trial enrolled 978 women who had ceased to respond to the trastuzumab, the parent compound of T-DM1. In the trial, patients were randomized 1:1 to receive either T-DM1 or the FDA-approved standard combination therapy of capecitabine and lapatinib.

Weiner explains that the trial demonstrated that T-DM1 is a highly effective treatment for women with HER2-positive breast cancer. Overall, the T-DM1 arm of the trial experienced fewer side effects, a higher probability of benefit, longer disease free survival, and met both of its co-primary endpoints of progression-free and overall survival.

The powerful results from the EMILIA trial will likely lead to a change in the way patients with HER2-positive breast cancer are managed, Weiner believes.