BERLIN — Adding the immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab to the antibody drug conjugate (ADC) trastuzumab deruxtecan does not improve outcomes for patients with advanced, pretreated breast cancer, a new analysis suggests.
Preclinical data suggested possible "synergy" between nivolumab and trastuzumab deruxtecan, said Rebecca Dent, MD, senior consultant and head of the Medical Oncology Department, National Cancer Center, Singapore, who was not involved in the study.
However, the latest evidence regarding pretreated patients with advanced HER2-expressing breast cancer found that while the combination "showed antitumor activity," the addition of nivolumab provided "no discernible benefit" for patients, according to lead author Erika P. Hamilton, MD, director of the Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Program, Sarah Cannon Research Institute/Tennessee Oncology, Nashville.
Hamilton presented the findings from the trial at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO BCC) Breast Cancer Congress 2022 on May 3.
In "compelling" data from a 2019 trial, trastuzumab deruxtecan monotherapy demonstrated strong antitumor activity in women with previously treated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. The drug yielded an objective response rate of 61%; median progression-free survival (PFS) was 16 months.
The results led the US Food and Drug Administration to grant accelerated approvalfor the treatment of unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer that year.
