EC nod for new aggressive type of metastatic breast cancer option

The European Commission (EC) has granted marketing authorization for Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan), a first-in-class Trop-2-directed antibody-drug conjugate from US biotech Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD), as a monotherapy indicated for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) who have received two or more prior systemic therapies, at least one of them for advanced disease.

“The metastatic stage of TNBC is particularly challenging to treat and until now we have urgently needed new treatment options for people in Europe living with this condition,” said Dr Véronique Diéras, senior medical oncologist head, Breast Cancer Group, Department of Medical Oncology, Centre Eugène Marquis, Rennes, France. “Today’s approval including second-line metastatic TNBC is significant for the community as it’s another important step forward in helping women with this disease live longer,” she noted.

TNBC is the most aggressive type of breast cancer and accounts for approximately 15% of all breast cancers. It is more frequently diagnosed in younger and premenopausal women and is more prevalent in Black and Hispanic women. The five-year survival rate for this sub-type of breast cancer is 12%, compared with 28% for other breast cancer types, and these poor outcomes are often coupled with a significant decrease in quality of life, especially in relapsed/refractory disease.