Jessica Ganga

GI Oncology Now

A limited number of treatment options are available for patients with locally advanced or metastatic biliary tract cancers (BTCs). <a href="https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/PO-24-00594" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In a systematic review</a>, a team of researchers found several clinical trials providing preliminary evidence that anti-HER2 therapies may benefit patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)&ndash;expressing BTCs.Using PubMed/Medline and EMBASE databases, researchers performed a comprehensive search to identify phase I, II, or III clinical trials published between January 2019 and March 2024. The clinical trials evaluated the efficacy and safety of various anti-HER2 agents used as treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic BTC.The primary end points in the systematic review included objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary end points were incidence of treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs), rate of treatment discontinuation, and death.A total of eight publications were included in the analysis. Data from 368 patients diagnosed with advanced BTC across the studies were included. Several anti-HER2 agents used as treatment included zanidatamab, pertuzumab plus trastuzumab, tucatinib plus trastuzumab, trastuzumab deruxtecan, trastuzumab plus chemotherapy, trastuzumab-pkrb plus chemotherapy, and neratinib.After analysis, the pooled ORR was 34% (95% CI, 24%-44%) and the DCR was 64% (95% CI, 51%-77%). The pooled weighted PFS was 4.8 months, and the overall median survival was 9.4 months. In total, the pooled duration of response for the reporting trials was 5.0 months.Overall, 82.6% of patients experienced any adverse event after treatment, and 32.1% of patients experienced a grade 3-4 adverse event. Furthermore, only 5.7% of patients discontinued treatment because of TRAEs.&ldquo;In patients with HER2-expressing BTCs, anti-HER2 therapies are viable options, particularly in the second-line setting,&rdquo; the researchers concluded.

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In a systematic review, researchers found that several anti-HER2 therapies may benefit patients with biliary tract cancers. 