Recent Advances in the Treatment of Advanced HER2+ Breast Cancer: SABCS 2024

Neil M. Iyengar, MD; Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, FACP; Laura Huppert, MD; Anne P. O’Dea, MD; and Melinda L. Telli, MD, discuss how recent trials, particularly DESTINY-Breast04/06, TROPiCS-02, and TROPION-Breast01, have revolutionized the HER2-low/ultralow breast cancer treatment landscape, demonstrating efficacy of novel antibody-drug conjugates such as trastuzumab deruxtecan while emphasizing the importance of careful patient selection, standardized testing, and strategic sequencing of these emerging therapies.

EP. 1: Precision Medicine in Breast Cancer: Evolving Paradigms in HER2 Testing and Clinical Implications

January 15th 2025

Panelists discuss how evolving HER2 classification methods and recent trial data are reshaping treatment approaches for advanced breast cancer, particularly regarding the clinical significance of HER2-low and ultralow categories.

EP. 2: ADCs in HER2-Low Breast Cancer: Insights From DESTINY-Breast04, TROPiCS-02, and TROPION-Breast02

January 22nd 2025

Panelists discuss how clinical trials like DESTINY-Breast04, TROPiCS-02, and TROPION-Breast01 have revolutionized treatment options for HER2-low advanced breast cancer by validating novel targeted therapies and antibody-drug conjugates.

EP. 3: T-DXd in HER2-Low Disease: DESTINY-Breast06 Data and Patient Selection Insights

January 29th 2025

Panelists discuss how DESTINY-Breast06 demonstrated meaningful clinical activity of trastuzumab deruxtecan in both HER2-low and ultralow metastatic breast cancer populations.

EP. 4: Emerging Data and Treatment Considerations in HER2 Ultralow Breast Cancer

January 29th 2025

Panelists discuss how emerging data on HER2-ultralow breast cancer is informing treatment decisions, particularly regarding the potential role of trastuzumab deruxtecan, while acknowledging the need for careful patient selection and consideration of traditional treatment sequences.

EP. 5: Patient-Reported Outcomes and Quality of Life Data With T-DXd in HER2-(Ultra) Low mBC

February 5th 2025

Panelists discuss how trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) demonstrated favorable patient-reported outcomes and quality of life measures in HER2-low hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer patients in DESTINY-Breast06, suggesting it could be a well-tolerated therapeutic option that maintains patients' daily functioning while providing clinical benefit.

EP. 6: Proactive AE Management and Prophylactic Strategies With TADCs in Breast Cancer

February 5th 2025

Panelists discuss how trastuzumab deruxtecan’s (T-DXd's) key adverse events (AEs) include interstitial lung disease, neutropenia, and nausea/fatigue, emphasizing the importance of proactive monitoring, early intervention through coordinated multidisciplinary care, and comprehensive patient education with clear communication channels for reporting symptoms.

EP. 7: Evolving Paradigms in HER2+ Advanced Breast Cancer With Brain Metastases

February 12th 2025

Panelists discuss how patients with HER2+ breast cancer frequently develop brain metastases, with recent pivotal trials such as HER2CLIMB and DESTINY-Breast03 demonstrating improved intracranial responses with newer agents such as tucatinib, and how trastuzumab deruxtecan leads to evolving standards of care (SOC) that now incorporate these targeted therapies alongside traditional local therapies.

EP. 8: Precision in CNS Targeting: Optimizing Management of Brain Metastases in HER2+ Breast Cancer

February 12th 2025

Panelists discuss how treatment selection for patients with HER2+ breast cancer with brain metastases requires careful consideration of factors such as metastatic burden, symptomatology, and prior therapies, typically incorporating both local approaches and systemic agents with CNS activity while accounting for individual patient characteristics such as performance status, comorbidities, and preferences in developing personalized treatment plans.

EP. 9: Insights From DESTINY-Breast12 Evaluating T-DXd in HER2+ Breast Cancer and Active and Stable Brain Metastases

February 19th 2025

Panelists discuss how the DESTINY-Breast12 trial evaluated trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) in patients with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer (mBC) with brain metastases, demonstrating encouraging intracranial responses and overall survival outcomes while maintaining a manageable safety profile consistent with previous T-DXd studies.

EP. 10: Novel and Emerging Strategies for HER2+ Breast Cancer With Brain Metastases

February 19th 2025

Panelists discuss how sequential therapy selection for patients with HER2+ breast cancer with progressive brain metastases requires careful consideration of prior treatments, patterns of progression, symptom burden, and available clinical trials, while balancing the need for both systemic disease control and CNS -specific approaches.

EP. 11: Emerging Frontline, Adjuvant, and Neoadjuvant Strategies with T-DXd in HER2+ Breast Cancer

February 26th 2025

Panelists discuss how emerging data from trials such as DESTINY-Breast09, which is evaluating first-line trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) with or without pertuzumab, could potentially reshape the treatment paradigm for HER2+ metastatic breast cancer (mBC) by establishing new standards for initial therapy and optimal combination approaches.

EP. 12: SABCS Highlights and Future Directions in the Treatment of Breast Cancer

February 26th 2025

Panelists discuss how the continued evolution of HER2-directed therapies, particularly the expanding role of trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) across different breast cancer settings, has transformed the treatment landscape, while emphasizing the importance of appropriate patient selection, optimal sequencing strategies, and the need for education around early adoption of promising therapies in community practice settings.