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News — A new study published in NEJM and led by global principal investigator , director of Translational Research Integration at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, found trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd), an antibody-drug conjugate, significantly improves progression-free survival compared to standard chemotherapy for patients with advanced breast cancer who have already undergone hormone-based therapies. The study included 866 patients and researchers found that the drug extended progression-free survival to 13.2 months, compared to 8.1 months for patients on the chemotherapy arm. Trastuzumab deruxtecan, builds on trastuzumab backbone linking the HER2 antibody with a powerful chemotherapy agent, allowing it to deliver cancer-killing drugs preferentially to the tumor cells compared to normal cells. While the drug was previously approved for use in later-line setting for patients with HER2-low tumors, this study shows T-DXd could be used earlier instead of chemotherapy in a broader patient population with advanced breast cancer, leading to potential change in clinical practice. Read the full study in the