Dr. Meric-Bernstam on the Safety and Efficacy of ZW25 in HER2-Expressing Solid Tumors

Funda Meric-Bernstam, MD, chair of the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, medical director of the Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The Nellie B. Connally Chair in Breast Cancer, and a professor, Department of Breast Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the safety and efficacy of the HER2-targeted bispecific antibody ZW25 in HER2-expressing solid tumors.

In the phase I trial, patients with HER2 amplified gastroesophageal (GEJ) cancer, biliary tract cancer, colorectal cancer (CRC), and other cancers received ZW25 at a dose of 10 mg/kg every week, or 20 mg/kg every 2 weeks. Patients received a median of 4 prior therapies. Notably, 87% of patients with GEJ cancer and 55% of patients with non-GEJ cancer received at least one prior HER2-targeted therapy, says Meric-Bernstam.

According to investigators, no new safety signals were observed. Data presented at the 2019 ESMO Congress demonstrated that the most common treatment-related adverse events were grade ≤2 diarrhea (45%) and infusion-related reactions (28%), says Meric-Bernstam. At the time of data cut-off, the partial response (PR) rate was 34.8% in 46 of 58 evaluable patients. Encouragingly, investigators reported PRs in biliary cancer, CRC, GEJ, as well as other tumor types including endometrial and ovarian cancer.