Trastuzumab deruxtecan (DS-8201a) in patients with advanced HER2-positive gastric cancer: a dose-expansion, phase 1 study

Background Trastuzumab deruxtecan (DS-8201a) is a novel HER2-targeted antibody–drug conjugate with a humanised anti-HER2 antibody, cleavable peptide-based linker, and topoisomerase I inhibitor payload. A phase 1, non-randomised, open-label, multiple-dose study was done to assess the safety, tolerability, and activity of trastuzumab deruxtecan in HER2-expressing advanced solid tumours. The dose escalation (part 1) has previously been reported and the recommended doses for expansion of 5·4 mg/kg or 6·4 mg/kg were established. In this Article, we report the safety and preliminary activity results from this phase 1 trial in all patients with HER2-positive gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer who received trastuzumab deruxtecan at the recommended doses for expansion. Methods This was an open-label, dose-escalation and dose-expansion phase 1 trial done at eight hospitals and clinics in the USA and six in Japan. Eligible patients were at least 18 years old in the USA and at least 20 years old in Japan and had advanced solid tumours (regardless of HER2 expression in dose escalation or HER2 expression or mutation in dose expansion). The recommended doses for expansion of 5·4 mg/kg or 6·4 mg/kg trastuzumab deruxtecan were administered intravenously to patients once every 3 weeks until withdrawal of consent, unacceptable toxicity, or progressive disease. In this Article, all patients with HER2-positive gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer with previous trastuzumab treatment who received trastuzumab deruxtecan were analysed together. The primary endpoints of the study were safety and preliminary activity (proportion of patients who achieved an objective response as assessed by the investigators). The activity evaluable set included all patients who received at least one dose of trastuzumab deruxtecan at the recommended doses for expansion, and for whom both baseline and post-treatment activity data were available. The safety analysis set included all patients who received at least one dose of trastuzumab deruxtecan at the recommended doses for expansion. Enrolment for patients with gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer has completed. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02564900, and ClinicalTrials.jp, number JapicCTI-152978. Findings Between Aug 28, 2015, and Aug 10, 2018, 44 patients with HER2-positive gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer received at least one dose of trastuzumab deruxtecan at the recommended doses for expansion. All patients had at least one treatment-emergent adverse event. The most frequent grade 3 or worse treatment-emergent adverse events included anaemia (13 [30%]) and decreases in neutrophil (nine [20%]), platelet (eight [18%]), and white blood cell (seven [16%]) counts. Serious treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 11 (25%) patients. There were four pneumonitis cases (three grade 2 and one grade 3). There were no drug-related deaths due to treatment-emergent adverse events. 19 (43·2%; 95% CI 28·3–59·0) of 44 patients had a confirmed objective response. Interpretation Trastuzumab deruxtecan had a manageable safety profile and showed preliminary activity in heavily pretreated patients with HER2-positive gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer. These results support further investigation of trastuzumab deruxtecan for HER2-positive gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer post-trastuzumab. Funding Daiichi Sankyo Co, Ltd.