Hot Topics in Breast Cancer

Currently, there are over 900 clinical trials investigating treatments for breast cancer listed on NIH.

To give a brief snapshot of where research is headed in the field, Healio has compiled a list of treatments in phase 1, 2 and 3 studies that are currently ongoing or have recently reported new data.

Phase 1

• Datopotamab deruxtecan (Daiichi Sankyo, AstraZeneca)
  
  • Findings from the phase one TROPION-PanTumor01 study showed a response rate of 34% in patients treated with datopotamab deruxtecan who had previously treated metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.

Phase 2

• Samuraciclib (Carrick Therapeutics)
  
  • Findings from a phase 2 study showed that treatment with samuraciclib plus fulvestrant resulted in clinical benefit among patients with locally advanced or metastatic ER-positive and/or progesterone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer who had previously received a cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor and up to one line of chemotherapy or two lines of endocrine therapy.

Phase 3

• Elacestrant (Menarini Group/Radius Health)
  
  • Findings from the phase 3 EMERALD study showed that elacestrant monotherapy improved progression-free survival compared with standard care in the second- and third-line setting among women with ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
• Trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu; Daiichi Sankyo, AstraZeneca)
  • Currently approved for use in patients with HER2-positive advanced or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma who had previously received a trastuzumab-based treatment regimen.
  • Being studied in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who were previously treated with trastuzumab and taxane.
• Olaparib (Lynparza; AstraZeneca, Merck)
  • Currently approved for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer, metastatic prostate cancer, metastatic pancreatic cancer and metastatic breast cancer.
  • Phase 3 findings from the OlympiA trial showed that adjuvant olaparib significantly extended DFS among patients with BRCA1/2 germline mutations and HER2-negative high-risk early breast cancer who previously received adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

References:

Bardia A, et al. Abstract GS2-02. Presented at: San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (virtual meeting); Dec. 7-10, 2021.

Coombes RC, et al. Abstract GS3-10. Presented at: San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (virtual meeting); Dec. 7-10, 2021.

FDA. FDA approves fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki for HER2-positive gastric adenocarcinomas. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/resources-information-approved-drugs/fda-approves-fam-trastuzumab-deruxtecan-nxki-her2-positive-gastric-adenocarcinomas. Published Jan. 1, 2021. Accessed Jan. 18, 2022.

J. Cortés, et al. Abstract LBA1. Presented at: European Society for Medical Oncology Congress (virtual meeting); Sept. 16-21, 2021.

Krop IE, et al. Abstract GS1-05. Presented at: San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (virtual meeting); Dec. 7-10, 2021.

NIH. Breast Cancer Clinical Trials. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/clinical-trials/disease/breast-cancer. Accessed Jan. 18, 2022.

Press Release. Enhertu significantly improved progression-free survival in DESTINY-Breast03 head-to-head trial vs. trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. https://www.astrazeneca.com/content/astraz/media-centre/press-releases/2021/enhertu-head-to-head-trial-meets-primary-endpoint.html. Published Aug. 9, 2021. Accessed on Jan. 21, 2022.

Tutt A, et al. LBA1. Presented at: ASCO 2021; June 4-8, 2021 (virtual meeting).