Enhertu Provides Meaningful, Durable Responses in HER2-Expressing Solid Tumors

Findings from an analysis of a phase 2 trial demonstrated that treatment with the antibody drug conjugate Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) led to meaningful and durable responses in patients with HER2-expressing advanced solid tumors including bladder, pancreatic and rare cancers.

Enhertu met the primary endpoint (the main result measured at the end of a study) of the trial of objective response rate (the percentage of patients with a partial or complete response to treatment) at 12 months, according to a press release from AstraZeneca, the drug’s manufacturer.

The antibody drug conjugate also had a durable response, meaning that patients had a continuous response to treatment for a given amount of time. The duration of response to treatment was measured during an average of 18 months and was defined as the time from the first response to treatment until disease progression or death.

The phase 2 DESTINY-PanTumor02 trial is assessing the safety and efficacy of Enhertu in patients with locally advanced, unresectable or metastatic previously treated HER2-expressing solid tumors that were not eligible for curative therapy, according to the release. The solid tumors in this trial included bladder, biliary tract, endometrial, cervical, pancreatic, ovarian and rare cancers.

“Enhertu has already demonstrated its potential to improve outcomes for patients with HER2-targetable breast, gastric and lung cancers, and these positive initial results in other tumor settings with significant unmet need are very encouraging,” said Cristian Massacesi, chief medical officer and oncology chief development officer at AstraZeneca, in the release. “The DESTINY-PanTumor02 results mark an important step forward in our understanding of the potential role of Enhertu across multiple HER2-expressing tumor types.”

The trial included 268 patients with HER2-expressing solid tumors, all of whom were treated with Enhertu, according to the release. In addition to objective response rate and duration of response, researchers also aimed to measure disease control rate (percentage of patients who obtained a complete response, partial response or stable disease from treatment), overall survival (the time when a patient with cancer is still alive), progression-free survival (the time when a patient with cancer lives without disease worsening), pharmacokinetics (the activity of drugs in the body over time, including how a drug is absorbed and distributed) and the occurrence of side effects.

The trial is estimated to be completed by June 16, 2023, according to the listing on ClinicalTrials.gov. Findings from the DESTINY-PanTumor02 trial will be presented at a future medical meeting.

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