Dr. Tolaney on Data With Trastuzumab Deruxtecan in HER2+ Breast Cancer Brain Metastases

Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH, associate director of the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers; director of Clinical Trials, Breast Oncology; and senior physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, as well as an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, discusses the potential role of fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (Enhertu) in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer and brain metastases.

About 50% of patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer will develop brain metastases, says Tolaney. As such, developing novel agents that have activity in the central nervous system is a critical, ongoing research effort.

Data from the phase 2 DESTINY-Breast01 trial, for which the approval of trastuzumab deruxtecan was based on, excluded patients with untreated or progressive brain metastases, Tolaney says. However, 24 patients with stable, treated brain metastases were included in the study.

Notably, a similar objective response rate and improved progression-free survival was observed in this subgroup of patients compared with the overall population, Tolaney explains.

Ongoing research is evaluating trastuzumab deruxtecan in patients with active brain metastases, concludes Tolaney.