AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo's Enhertu breast cancer drug significantly helped patients with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer in its phase 3 clinical trial, AstraZeneca said Feb. 21.
HER2 breast cancer is diagnosed through a score of one to three. A score of zero or one positive means the breast cancer is HER2 negative; a score of two plus is borderline; and a score of three plus is positive.
All patients in the trial, dubbed Destiny-Breast04, received a HER2 test, and the results were centrally confirmed. The HER2-directed antibody drug conjugate demonstrated "superior" progression-free survival in previously treated patients with HR-positive HER2-low metastatic breast cancer compared to the standard-of-care chemotherapy, according to a news release from AstraZeneca.
"A HER2-directed therapy has never before shown a benefit in patients with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer," stated Susan Galbraith, executive vice president of oncology research and development at AstraZeneca. "These results for Enhertu are a huge step forward and could potentially expand our ability to target the full spectrum of HER2 expression, validating the need to change the way we categorize and treat breast cancer."
Specifics from the trial will be presented at an upcoming medical meeting.