Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

New anti-HER2 agents for brain metastasis: histology-agnostic weapons?

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Published:
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Besides predicting responsiveness to anti-HER2 agents, HER2 aberrations are associated with a high incidence of central nervous system (CNS) metastasis across several cancer types, including breast, lung, gastric and colorectal cancer. In this setting, several novel anti-HER2 agents with relevant CNS activity are emerging, including tucatinib and trastuzumab deruxtecan. Both agents are already FDA-approved for treating advanced breast cancer, but are also being tested for the treatment of other HER2-driven histologies. The confirmation of their activity in other cancer types may provide histology-agnostic weapons against HER2-driven brain metastasis, possibly improving the prognosis of a wide population of cancer patients.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Offin M, Feldman D, Ni A, Myers ML, Lai WV, Pentsova E et al (2019) Frequency and outcomes of brain metastases in patients with HER2-mutant lung cancers. Cancer 125:4380–4387

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Sartore-Bianchi A, Lonardi S, Aglietta M, Martino C, Ciardiello F, Marsoni S et al (2020) Central nervous system as possible site of relapse in ERBB2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer: long-term results of treatment with trastuzumab and lapatinib. JAMA Oncol 6(6):927–929

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Smit EF, Nakagawa K, Nagasaka M, Felip E, Goto Y, Li BT et al (2020) Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd; DS-8201) in patients with HER2-mutated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): interim results of DESTINY-Lung01. J Clin Oncol 38:9504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Siena S, Di Bartolomeo M, Raghav KPS, Masuishi T, Loupakis F, Kawakami H et al (2020) A phase II, multicenter, open-label study of trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd; DS-8201) in patients (pts) with HER2-expressing metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC): DESTINY-CRC01. J Clin Oncol 38:4000

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Darlix A, Louvel G, Fraisse J, Jacot W, Brain E, Debled M et al (2019) Impact of breast cancer molecular subtypes on the incidence, kinetics and prognosis of central nervous system metastases in a large multicentre real-life cohort. Br J Cancer 121:991–1000

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Blay C, Chiforeanu DC, Boucher E, Cabillic F, Desgrippes R, Leconte B et al (2015) Incidence of brain metastases in HER2+ gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Acta Oncol (Madr) 54:1833–1835

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Lin NU, Borges V, Anders C, Murthy RK, Paplomata E, Hamilton E et al (2020) Intracranial efficacy and survival with tucatinib plus trastuzumab and capecitabine for previously treated HER2-positive breast cancer with brain metastases in the HER2CLIMB trial. J Clin Oncol 38:2610–2619. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.20.00775

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Li BT, Shen R, Buonocore D, Olah ZT, Ni A, Ginsberg MS et al (2018) Ado-Trastuzumab emtansine for patients with HER2 -mutant lung cancers: results from a phase II basket trial. J Clin Oncol 36:2532–2537

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Shitara K, Bang Y-J, Iwasa S, Sugimoto N, Ryu M-H, Sakai D et al (2020) Trastuzumab deruxtecan in previously treated HER2-positive gastric cancer. N Engl J Med Online 382:2419–2430

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Jerusalem G, Park YH, Yamashita T, Hurvitz SA, Chen S (2020) CNS metastases in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer treated with Trastuzumab deruxtecan: DESTINY-Breast01 subgroup analyses. Ann Oncol 31:S62–S82

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

No funding was provided for this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy

    Paolo Tarantino & Giuseppe Curigliano

  2. University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    Paolo Tarantino & Giuseppe Curigliano

  3. Translational Genomics and Targeted Therapies in Solid Tumors, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain

    Aleix Prat

  4. University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Aleix Prat

Authors
  1. Paolo Tarantino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Aleix Prat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Giuseppe Curigliano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed equally to the conception, writing and review of the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giuseppe Curigliano.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Giuseppe Curigliano has received personal fees from Ellipses Pharma, Roche, Pfizer, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Foundation Medicine, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Samsung and Daiichi Sankyo outside the submitted work. Aleix Prat has received personal fees from Roche, Pfizer, Novartis Daiichi Sankyo, AstraZeneca, Foundation Medicine, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Nanostring Technologies, Seattle Genetics and Guardant Health outside the submitted work. Paolo Tarantino declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

No human participant was included in the study, thus no informed consent was required.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tarantino, P., Prat, A. & Curigliano, G. New anti-HER2 agents for brain metastasis: histology-agnostic weapons?. Breast Cancer Res Treat 185, 879–881 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-020-05982-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-020-05982-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation