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Trastuzumab Deruxtecan for the Treatment of HER2 Immunohistochemistry 0 Unresectable or Metastatic Breast Cancer

Trial Status: active

This phase II trial tests how well trastuzumab deruxtecan works in treating patients with HER2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) 0 breast cancer that cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable) or that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic). An IHC score of 0 indicates the breast cancer is HER 2 negative. HER2 is a gene that makes the HER2 protein that stimulates tumor growth. 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 tumor cells in a targeted way and delivers deruxtecan to kill them. Some studies have shown that there may be survival benefit in patients with HER2 negative cancers. Since IHC testing was not originally designed to measure HER2 levels very accurately, it is thought that some patients with IHC scores of 0, may still have some HER2 protein and may potentially have some benefit. Giving trastuzumab deruxtecan may kill more tumor cells in patients with HER2 IHC 0 unresectable or metastatic breast cancer.