Dr. Blackwell Discusses Tucatinib in HER2+ Breast Cancer

Kimberly L. Blackwell, MD, medical oncologist, Duke Cancer Institute, discusses the role of tucatinib (ONT-380) for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

Tucatinib is an exciting agent in the HER2-positive breast cancer space, she says. In studies, tucatinib was given prior to brain radiotherapy in patients with brain metastases. These patients demonstrated an objective response rate prior to radiation, explains Blackwell. This could cause radiation to be moved further down the treatment course for this patient population.

Tucatinib does not have some of the side effects that are seen with other agents says Blackwell, including diarrhea and rash. Since tucatinib is well tolerated, it has potential to be combined with standard chemotherapy.

An ongoing phase II trial, HER2CLIMB (NCT02614794), is randomizing patients with HER2-positive breast cancer with/without brain metastases to tucatinib plus capecitabine and trastuzumab (Herceptin) versus placebo plus capecitabine and trastuzumab. The primary endpoint of the study is progression-free survival with secondary outcomes including overall survival and quality of life.