Lleida participates in the ‘Destiny-Breast’ clinical trial programme for patients with HER2+ breast cancer

Lleida, through the Clinical Trials unit of the Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida (IRBLleida), is participating in the Destiny-Breast clinical trials programme to tackle HER2+ breast cancer. Specifically, it has participated in Destiny-Breast 2 and is currently participating in Destiny-Breast 5, which involves patients with early breast cancer but with a high risk of relapse. Destiny-Breast is a global development programme for the molecule Trastuzumab Deruxtecan, a new treatment for breast cancer which, according to results presented in September at the presidential session of the annual congress of the European Society of Oncology (ESMO), slows disease progression after one year in three out of four patients (75.8%) and even causes the tumour to disappear completely in 16% of patients.

These are the results of the Destiny-Breast 03 study, which tests the efficacy of administering a new combination of a drug and an antibody in cases of HER2+ metastatic breast cancer, a subtype which, although it only represents around 15% of diagnosed cases of the disease, is very aggressive.

“These are spectacular results because it is a drug that is easy to administer and not very toxic, improving on other drugs that were already very potent, such as TDM-1,” explained the Medical Oncology physician at the Arnau de Vilanova University Hospital and principal investigator of the Cancer Biomarkers Research Group (GReBiC) at IRBLleida.

The aim of the Clinical Trials Unit at IRBLleida is to support clinical research groups at the Arnau de Vilanova University Hospital and the University Hospital of Santa Maria de Lleida in order to consolidate clinical trials without commercial interest, promote privately sponsored clinical trials and the search for excellence and leadership in both fields.