Oncologists are hopeful a drug developed by AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo will change how doctors treat the most common type of late-stage breast cancer, after data showed it doubled the progression-free survival rates of patients compared with chemotherapy.
Jane Lowe Meisel, a cancer expert at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said the results presented at the organisation’s annual meeting would “redefine” how doctors classify breast cancer and significantly expand the population of patients who could benefit from drugs targeting the HER2 protein.
“This is not only a breakthrough, it is practice-changing,” said Gilles Gallant, Daiichi’s global head of oncology development. The treatment has already been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for a smaller group of late-stage breast cancer patients with tumours, which express high levels of the HER2 protein. But the trial found Enhertu also worked against a much larger cohort of tumours that express low levels of HER2.
David Fredrickson, AstraZeneca’s executive vice-president of oncology, said Enhertu had the potential to become a “multi-blockbuster” medicine by being transformative in treating different types of breast cancer, as well as types of gastric, colon and lung cancers.
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