Therapy with patritumab deruxtecan, a new antibody conjugate with chemotherapy, is achieving very good results in women with metastatic breast cancer.
- Patritumab deruxtecan is a new antibody conjugate with chemotherapy that has had very good results in one study.
- The study was conducted in 99 women with metastatic breast cancer, who received this treatment every three weeks.
- The results are encouraging: a response rate of more than 50% and a progression-free survival of around nine months, which is longer than with conventional treatments.
Patritumab deruxtecan is the name of a new antibody conjugated with chemotherapy that has obtained very good results in women with metastatic breast cancer. It was tested in the French ICARUS-BREAST01 study, promoted by Gustave Roussy.
New antibody to treat metastatic breast cancer
In this study, patritumab deruxtecan was tested in 99 adult patients with metastatic breast cancer expressing hormone receptors and negative for the HER2 receptor. HER2 is a protein, overexpressed in 30% of breast cancer cases, which promotes the growth of cancer cells and metastases.
During the study, patients “received patritumab deruxtecan, every 3 weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity”, explains the press releasespecifying that all the participants “had a tumor that had become resistant to CDK4/6 inhibitors (used to treat breast cancer) and received one cycle of chemotherapy”.
A response rate and survival superior to conventional treatments
The results are “extremely positive because they demonstrate a response rate of 53.5%, with a progression-free survival of approximately nine months“, says Dr. Barbara Pistilli, oncologist, head of the breast pathology committee, in a video posted online by Gustave RoussyAdverse effects of patritumab deruxtecan noted in participants were fatigue, diarrhea, and nausea.
“With conventional treatments used in third-line chemotherapy, the response rate is lower and progression-free survival is around 4 to 6 months.”underlines Dr. Barbara Pistilli. This new antibody combined with chemotherapy would therefore be, according to these results, more effective than conventional treatments.
Other findings from this study: “mechanisms related to the response and resistance to this therapy”, explains Dr. Barbara Pistilli. One of these mechanisms is the drug-induced immune response against the tumor, which could lead to a better response to patritumab deruxtecan.
“This antibody conjugated to the drug, patritumab deruxtecan, therefore appears to be a potential new promising therapy in advanced forms of hormone-dependent breast cancer, even if other studies are necessary to confirm these data.”, concludes Dr. Barbara Pistilli.
Hope for patients suffering from this cancer which, in France, is the most common among women. In 2023, there were 61,214 new cases, according to the Overview of cancers in France – 2023 edition.
