Research teams said at the European Society of Medical Oncology meeting that they had observed a significant improvement in delaying the progression of breast cancer and prolonging the survival of patients with it, thanks to a newer class of treatments that combine antibodies and chemical drugs.
In a trial called (Ascent-03), researchers tested the drug (Trudelphi), produced by Gilead Sciences, on patients with locally advanced or inoperable tumors from triple-negative breast cancer, who do not meet the criteria for immunotherapy, such as (Keytruda) from Merck.
Trudelphi combines an antibody that targets cancer cells (sacituzumab) with a chemotherapeutic drug (SN-38).
According to the study report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, half of the 558 study participants were followed for at least 13 months, and the average progression-free survival was 9.7 months compared with 6.9 months for those treated with standard chemotherapy.
Earlier this year, study leader Dr. Sarah Tolany of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute presented results of a related trial that showed Trudelphi also had additional benefits in cases that met criteria for immunotherapy.
In a separate study, researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York reported on the results of Daiichi Sankyo’s drug (Datroi), a combination of an antibody (databutamab) and a chemotherapy drug (deruxtecan), in patients with previously untreated advanced triple-negative breast cancer for whom immunotherapy was not an option. also available to them.
Of the 644 patients, the median overall survival was about 24 months with Datterway versus 19 months with standard chemotherapy, the researchers said.
Median progression-free survival was about 11 months with Datterway and six months with standard chemotherapy. Two separate studies also showed that drugs that combine antibodies and chemotherapy may significantly improve outcomes not only after the disease has progressed, but also in the early stages.
In two trials in patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer, preoperative treatment with Enherto from Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca, a combination of the antibody trastuzumab and the chemotherapy drug deroxetcan, improved median disease-free survival compared with standard treatment.