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Neratinib and Trastuzumab Deruxtecan for the Treatment of HER2 Overexpressing Unresectable or Metastatic Gastrointestinal Cancer

Trial Status: active

This phase I trial tests the safety, side effects, and best dose of neratinib in combination with trastuzumab deruxtecan to treat patients with HER2 overexpressing gastrointestinal (GI) cancer that cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable) or has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic). When HER2 genes tell tumor cells to make too many HER2 receptors (HER2 protein overexpression), this makes the tumor cells grow and divide in an uncontrolled way. Neratinib is an inhibitor drug that binds to the HER2 receptors on the outside of tumor cells and blocks the action of the abnormal protein that signals tumor cells to multiply. This helps slow or stop the spread of tumor cells. Trastuzumab deruxtecan is in a class of medications called antibody-drug conjugates. It is composed of a monoclonal antibody, called trastuzumab, linked to a chemotherapy drug, called deruxtecan. Trastuzumab attaches to HER2 positive cancer cells in a targeted way and delivers deruxtecan to kill them. These drugs working together may help improve outcomes for patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancers.