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Study: A new breast cancer drug improves overall survival among people with brain and other metastases

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Contents

At a glance                  Questions for your doctor
Findings               In-depth                
Clinical trials Limitations
Guidelines Resources


STUDY AT A GLANCE

This study is about:

Whether a new drug called tucatinib can improve outcomes for people with metastatic breast cancer.

Why is this study important?

This study tested whether a new drug in combination with standard therapy provided women with a longer time without cancer progression and longer survival. Notably, this study included participants with brain metastases (who are often excluded from clinical trials) to see if this drug improved their outcomes. 

Study findings: 

For the HER2CLIMB study, the primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) or the length of time participants experience before their cancer progressed (before it grew in size or further metastasized).

  • At 1 year, the risk of disease progression or death was 46% lower in the tucatinib-combination group compared to the group. Improved PFS was seen in all groups: hormone receptor-positive and receptor-negative patients, participants younger and older than age 65, white and non-white patients, and those with and without brain metastases.
  • At 2 years, the risk of death was 34% lower for participants treated with the tucatinib-combination. Improved overall survival was seen in all groups: hormone receptor-positive and receptor-negative patients, participants younger and older than age 65, white and non-white patients, and those with and without brain metastases.
  • At 1 year, the risk of disease progression or death was 52% lower among participants with brain metastases in the tucatinib-combination group compared to those in the group.
  • Almost twice as many participants treated with the tucatinib-combination experienced a reduction in the size or a disappearance of their cancer compared to the group.
  • Most of the adverse events that occurred were not severe. These included diarrhea, hand-foot syndrome, nausea, fatigue and vomiting. These events are similar to the effects that occur with related tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) drugs but they appear less frequently with tucatinib, suggesting that it may be a better TKI inhibitor for breast cancer treatment.

What does this mean for me?

If you have metastatic breast cancer that has progressed, you may have a new treatment option. Tukysa (tucatinib) recieved  approval on 04/17/20 for treatment in patients with advanced or HER2-positive breast cancer, including patients with brain metastases (disease that has spread to the brain). Patients who have received one or more treatments targeting  in the metastic setting are eligible to receive Tukysa. 

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Disclosure

FORCE receives funding from industry sponsors, including companies that manufacture cancer drugs, tests and devices. All XRAYS articles are written independently of any sponsor and are reviewed by members of our Scientific Advisory Board prior to publication to assure scientific integrity.

This article is relevant for:

People with metastatic breast cancer

This article is also relevant for:

people with Her2-positive cancer

people with metastatic or advanced cancer

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IN-DEPTH REVIEW OF RESEARCH

Study background:

Patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) have limited options for treatment. and, on average, survive 2 years. Researchers are seeking treatments that prolong survival or increase survival without cancer progression for better quality of life. Tucatinib is a type of drug known as a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that specifically targets . TKI inhibitors act in a different region of compared to trastuzumab (herceptin) or related drugs. A phase Ib dose study suggested that combination of tucatinib plus trastuzumab and standard chemotherapy might improve outcomes of breast cancer patients.

Researchers of this study wanted to know:

Whether tucatinibin combination with standard treatment improves progression-free survival and/or overall survival in people with or without brain metastases

Populations looked at in this study:

612 participants were enrolled from February 2016 to May 2019 from 155 locations in 15 countries. Eligible participants were patients 18 years or older with metastatic breast cancer who had previously been treated with trastuzumab (Herceptin), pertuzumab (Perjeta) or trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla). Participants included 607 women and 5 men with and without brain metastases with an average age of 54. Participants included 72% white women, 9% black women, 3.7% Asian women and 14% women with unknown racial/ethnic information.

Study design:

The HER2CLIMB study was a double-blind clinical trial. All participants were treated with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and capecitabine (Xeloda) as standard of care. Trastuzumab was given intravenously every 21 days, while capecitabine was given orally on days 1-14 of each 21-day period. The remainder of this review refers to trastuzumab plus capecitabine as the "combination."

Participants were randomly treated with either tucatinib or as a pill twice a day throughout the study:

  •  tucatinib (the tucatinib-combination group: 410 participants)
  • (the placebo-combination group: 202 participants)

Participants were tested by CT, PET-T or contrast-MRI imaging to measure their disease progression at the time of enrollment, then every 6 weeks for 24 weeks and every 9 weeks thereafter until the end of the study. For participants with brain metastases at the time of enrollment, progression of brain cancer was followed by contrast of the head. All imaging was evaluated by blinded independent review (reviewers did not know which patients or which drug treatment were linked to each image) using Response Evaluation Criteria in   v. 1.1 as a standard guideline.

Study findings:  

The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) or the length of time participants experienced before their cancer progressed (grew in size or metastasized further). This analysis was done with an original group of 480 participants.

At 1 year, the risk of disease progression or death was 46% lower in the tucatinib-combination group compared to the group.

  • 275 of 480 participants experienced a progression of their cancer:
    • 33% of the tucatinib-combination group survived without their cancer worsening
    • 12% of the placebo-combination group survived without their cancer worsening
  • The average participant experienced a longer time until their cancer progressed:
    • 7.8 months for the tucatinib-combination group
    • 5.6 months for the placebo-combination group
  • Improved PFS was seen in all sub-groups: hormone receptor-positive and receptor-negative patients, participants younger and older than age 65, white and non-white patients, and those with and without brain metastases.

At 2 years, the risk of death was 34% lower for participants treated with the tucatinib-combination.

  • 215 deaths occurred among the enrolled 612 participants:
    • 45% of the tucatinib-combination group survived
    • 27% of the placebo-combination group survived
  • The average participant experienced a longer time until death:
    • 22 months for the tucatinib-combination group
    • 17 months for the placebo-combination group
  • Improved overall survival was seen in all sub-groups: hormone receptor-positive and receptor-negative patients, participants younger and older than age 65, white and non-white patients, and in those with and without brain metastases.

Participants with brain metastases also benefited from the tucatinib-combination treatment.

  • At 1 year, the risk of disease progression or death was 52% lower among participants with brain metastases in the tucatinib-combination group compared to those in the group.
    • 25% of the tucatinib-combination group survived without their cancer worsening
    • 0% of the placebo-combination group survived without their cancer worsening

The average participant experienced a longer time until their cancer progressed:

  • 7.6 months for the tucatinib-combination group
  • 5.4 months for the placebo-combination group

Objective response rate refers to the rate of patients whose cancer shrink in size or become undetectable. Almost twice as many participants treated with the tucatinib-combination had their cancer shrink or disappear compared to the group.

  • Among the 511 participants who had measurable cancer when they enrolled, the objective response rate was:
    • 41% among the tucatinib-combination treated patients
    • 23% among the placebo-combination treated patients

Safety

Adverse events among patients who were treated with the tucatinib-combination were diarrhea, hand-foot syndrome, nausea, fatigue and vomiting. Most of these were not severe. Diarrhea was the most common severe event. Similar types of adverse effects are seen with related TKI drugs, but they appear less frequently with tucatinib. This suggests tucatinib may be a better TKI inhibitor for breast cancer treatment.

Most events did not require discontinuation of therapy; 6% of the tucatinib-combination group and 3% of the placebo-combination group discontinued treatment.

Of the 215 participant deaths during the study, most (96%) were linked to cancer progression: 11 were associated with treatment—6 of 404 (6%) patients in the tucatinib-group and 5 of 157 (2.5%) in the placebo-combination group.

Limitations:

This study reports initial findings of the HER2CLIMB trial of tucatinib. Some participants are still living; additional time is needed to determine final survival rates and outcomes.

While 30% of participants were non-white, a substantial portion of these women were of unknown or undeclared ethnicity/racial background. Non-white participants saw outcome benefits similar to white participants. However, the numbers of participants in specific racial or ethnic groups were too small to conclude if there were differences in outcomes between groups. Treating more women of color with this drug is needed to determine if it is equally helpful in all groups.

While significant improvements in progression-free survival, overall survival and objective response rates were observed, 215 deaths that were attributed to breast cancer occurred in the first year of treatment. This treatment slows but does not stop cancer for most patients. Further research is needed to improve these results.

Conclusions:

This is a well-designed , double-blind trial. Tucatinib treatment in combination with Herceptin and Xeloda seems to improve outcomes of women with metastatic breast cancer by increasing progression-free survival, overall survival and objective response rates, with relatively modest adverse effects. Tucatinib was approved by the on 04/17/20.

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Posted 11/20/19 and updated 04/17/20. 

Expert Guidelines
Expert Guidelines

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) brings together panels of national expert to create guidelines for cancer treatment. NCCN breast cancer guidelines recommend the following treatments for people with metastatic breast cancer:

  • For hormone receptor-positive cancers, the NCCN recommends several different treatment options:
    • Hormone therapy with HER2-targeted therapy (for people who are post-menopausal or take drugs to suppress their ovaries).
    • HER2-targeted therapy with chemotherapy.
  • For hormone receptor negative cancers:
    • HER2-targeted therapy with chemotherapy.
  • For 2nd-line therapy:
    • Trastuzumab deruxtecan (ENHERTU) is the preferred treatment.
    • Tucatinib (Tukysa) with HER2-targeted therapy and chemotherapy (for people with to the brain or other parts of the central nervous system).
  • For 3rd-line and later therapy:
    • Tucatinib (Tukysa) with HER2-targeted therapy and chemotherapy (especially in people with to the brain or other parts of the central nervous system).
    • HER2-targeted therapy with chemotherapy.

Updated: 12/22/2021

Questions To Ask Your Doctor
Questions To Ask Your Doctor

  • Is my breast cancer or ?
  • What is the best treatment for my breast cancer?
  • Are there any new treatments that are available to treat my breast cancer?
  • Do I qualify for any clinical trials that are enrolling participants?

Open Clinical Trials
Open Clinical Trials

The following are studies looking at treatment for people with HER2-positive breast cancer.  

Other clinical trials for people with breast cancer can be found here.

Updated: 09/12/2024

Peer Support
Peer Support

The following organizations offer peer support services for people with, or at high risk for breast cancer:

Updated: 05/07/2024

Who covered this study?

Medscape

New standard likely for some metastatic HER2 breast cancer This article rates 5.0 out of 5 stars

US News and World Report

Two drugs make inroads against aggressive breast cancers This article rates 4.5 out of 5 stars

Cancer Therapy Today

Adding Tucatinib led to survival gain in metastatic breast cancer This article rates 3.0 out of 5 stars

How we rated the media

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