HER2CLIMB, DESTINY-Breast01, and SOPHIA trials: Benefits of combination therapies for HER2+ breast cancers

Matteo Lambertini, MD, PhD, San Martino Hospital, Genoa, Italy, reviewed some of the highlights presented at SABCS 2019.  In the advanced HER2-positive breast cancer setting, researchers of the HER2CLIMB trial found significant benefits to adding tucatinib to trastuzumab and capecitabine treatment in pretreated patients with HER2-positive advanced disease. Of particular importance were the significant benefits for patients with brain metastases.

Researchers of the DESTINY-Breast01 phase 2 trial demonstrated that treatment with trastuzumab deruxtecan—an antibody-drug conjugate—effected a clinically meaningful and durable response in heavily pretreated patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, with a generally manageable safety profile. In the SOPHIA trial, margetuximab plus chemotherapy improved progression free survival compared with trastuzumab, with comparable safety results in women with pretreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

These results were shared at SABCS 2019.