A new international phase I study published in the New England Journal of Medicine provides very encouraging results for a specific subgroup of patients with advanced lung cancer. These are people with a mutation of the HER2 gene, who represent approximately 2 to 3% of cases, and who until now did not have targeted treatments in the first line.
The new research, in which researchers from ICO L’Hospitalet and IDIBELL have participated, analyzes the use of zongertinib, an oral drug that selectively acts on HER2, and is part of the advances in precision medicine. The results show that 76% of treatment-naïve patients responded to the drug, with a prolonged duration of response and progression-free survival of more than one year.
Zongertinib: an effective and safe oral drug
This work follows a previous study, also published in the same journal, which had already demonstrated benefits of the drug in patients who had progressed after receiving chemotherapy with or without immunotherapy treatment. Now, the new frontline data further bolster its clinical potential.
In addition, the results show that apart from its efficacy, zongertinib stands out for a very favorable safety profile. In fact, compared to other available options, such as chemotherapy-conjugated antibodies (CDAs), which can cause severe lung inflammation in some cases, the new oral treatment has less toxicity and practically no complications have been observed at the pulmonary level.
Potential solutions for still underserved patients
For the oncologist specialising in lung cancer at ICO L’Hospitalet and researcher at IDIBELL, Ernest Nadal, “this subgroup of patients, despite being a minority, had a very important unmet medical need” and adds “now having an oral treatment, effective and with good tolerance from the beginning is a very relevant advance and a clear example of personalised medicine, which is where the future of oncology is headed“.
However, the team of researchers who have participated in this study point out that, although these results will have to be further confirmed, the drug zongertinib could change the standard treatment of this type of cancer in the coming years if its efficacy continues to be demonstrated in other studies with larger groups of patients.
About IDIBELL
The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a research centre created in 2004 and specialising in cancer, neuroscience, translational medicine and regenerative medicine. It has a team of more than 1,500 professionals who, from 73 research groups, publish more than 1,400 scientific articles a year. L’IDIBELL is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Health Institute, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.
IDIBELL is a member of the Campus d’Excelencia Internacional of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centres accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the HR Excellence in Research program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Centre of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).