At the beginning of May, the Food and Drug Administration approved Trastuzumab Deruxtecan (Enhertu), for breast cancer patients who have received an anti-HER2-based regimen - before or after undergoing breast surgery - and have experienced recurrence within six months of completing surgery, as well as for unresectable or metastatic breast cancer patients who have received a prior anti-HER2-based regimen.

The approval was based on study results in which 524 breast cancer patients meeting the abovementioned criteria were randomly assigned to receive either Enhertu (study group) or Kadcyla, which is another anti-HER2 drug (control group) - both intravenously once every three weeks.

The study results point towards a significant lower risk of disease progression among the patients receiving Enhertu, compared to those receiving Kadcyla.

In addition, a significantly higher percent of patients receiving Enhertu experienced tumor shrinkage (83%), compared to those receiving Kadcya (36%).

Enhertu now provides a new treatment option for breast cancer patients with disease recurrence/progression who have received prior anti-HER2-based regimen.

Enhertu may cause nausea, vomiting, pneumonia and urinary tract infection, thus requiring careful monitoring as for all other anti-cancer drugs.