Patients with metastatic HER2+ breast cancer gained a new treatment option when ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla®) was approved in 2013. Kadcyla® is made up of the antibody, trastuzumab (Herceptin®) and the chemotherapy DM1. Herceptin® homes in on the HER2 protein on cancer cells and when it connects it releases the chemotherapy. This can reduce side effects that develop when chemotherapy attacks normal cells. Kadcyla® remains the only antibody drug conjugate approved to treat metastatic breast cancer. Clinical trials are underway that are pursuing similar approaches and more antibody drug conjugates are in development. The articles below explain how antibody drug conjugates work and discuss clinical trials now underway. You can find clinical trials for patients with metastatic breast cancer using Kadcyla® in combination with other therapies here. You can find clinical trials for patients with metastatic breast cancer using experimental antibody drug conjugates here.
- Video from Roche: What are Antibody-Drug Conjugates and How Do They Work Against Cancer?
- Clinical Advances in Hematology & Oncology: Q&A: Antibody Drug Conjugates in Breast Cancer
- Roche: 2013: First Antbody Drug Conjugate Approved for HER2+ Metastatic Breast Cancer
- Susan G. Komen: Emerging Areas in Metastatic Treatments
- Oncology Nursing News: HER3 Antibody-Drug Conjugate in Advanced Breast Cancer
- U.S. National Library of Medicine: Drug Conjugates: An emerging approach to treat breast cancer
- The New England Journal of Medicine: Drug Conjugate Being Studied in Metastatic Triple Negative Breast Cancer
- International Journal of Molecular Sciences: HER2-Directed Antibody Drug Conjugates
