Association between HER family expression and clinical outcomes with trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) in patients with hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative (HR+/HER2-) metastatic breast cancer (mBC).

1030 Background: T-DXd improves outcomes in HR+/HER2- mBC, yet response remains heterogeneous. Treatment selection is based on HER2 IHC. Preclinical models suggest signaling from HER family dimerization partners like EGFR drive resistance; specifically, EGFR overexpression impairs T-DXd internalization by favoring EGFR/HER2 heterodimerization. Because clinical data linking HER dimerization partners to T-DXd outcomes are limited, investigation is warranted to understand how expression of these partners may serve as predictive biomarkers. Methods: The Tempus Lens Platform was used to identify and analyze a cohort of patients (pts) with HR+/HER2- mBC treated with T-DXd (n = 224) and sacituzumab govitecan (SG) (n = 81, comparator) who underwent RNA (Tempus xR) and DNA (Tempus xT) sequencing within one year of treatment initiation. HER family gene expression ( EGFR/ERBB1, ERBB2/3/4 ) was quantified as transcripts per million (TPM) and reported as log2(TPM+1). High vs low groups were defined using median expression. Median real-world time to next treatment (rwTTNT) with T-DXd and real-world overall survival (rwOS) were calculated using Kaplan–Meier curves and compared using log-rank tests. Hazard ratios (HR) were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models. Results: The cohort (n = 305) had a median age of 60; 83% of pts’ race was reported as White, 9.6% Black or African American, 2.7% Asian, 7.6% Hispanic or Latino, and 4.3% unknown. Median HER family gene expression values were: ERBB1 ( EGFR ): 3.92; ERBB2 7.75; ERBB3 7.65; ERBB4 4.72. EGFR RNA expression was negatively correlated with ERBB2/3/4 (p < 0.0001). ERBB2/3/4 RNA expression was positively correlated with one another (p < 0.0001). Among pts treated with T-DXd, the EGFR -high group had shorter median rwTTNT (7.76 vs 13.25 months; HR = 2.17 95% CI 1.42-3.34, p < 0.001) and rwOS (13.71 vs 22.55 months, HR = 2.21; 95% CI 1.50-3.24, p < 0.001) compared to the EGFR -low group. In contrast, increased RNA expression of other HER family members was not associated with a significant difference in rwTTNT or rwOS. Among pts treated with SG, the EGFR -high group did not have significantly different rwTTNT (median 4.34 vs 5.56 months; HR = 1.30 95% CI 0.72-2.36, p = 0.4) or rwOS (median 14.47 vs 11.28 months; HR = 0.86, 95% CI 0.47-1.55, p = 0.6) compared with the EGFR -low group. Conclusions: Among pts with HR+/HER2- mBC treated with T-DXd, elevated EGFR , but not ERBB2/3/4 , RNA expression was associated with worse outcomes. EGFR overexpression did not modulate outcomes in pts treated with SG, highlighting a potential differential impact based on antibody target rather than payload. Further research is needed to confirm the utility of pre-treatment EGFR expression as a predictive biomarker for T-DXd treatment.

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Journal
Journal of Clinical Oncology
Published
2026-05-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2026.44.16_suppl.1030
Primary Topic
HER2/EGFR in Cancer Research
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article
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article

Association between HER family expression and clinical outcomes with trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) in patients with hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative (HR+/HER2-) metastatic breast cancer (mBC).

Samer Alkassis, Unnati Jariwala, Amy L. Cummings, Alexis LeVee et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology
HER2/EGFR in Cancer Research
article

Association between HER family expression and clinical outcomes with trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) in patients with hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative (HR+/HER2-) metastatic breast cancer (mBC).

Samer Alkassis, Unnati Jariwala, Amy L. Cummings, Alexis LeVee, Michelle Weitz, Shivani K Thaker, D Elashoff, Hope S. Rugo, A Bardia, J O’Shaughnessy, Binyam Yilma, Adam Dugan, Martina Mcdermott, Jacob Mercer, Mothaffar Rimawi, Yuan Yuan, Marla Lipsyc-Sharf, Stamatina Fragkogianni, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Rachel Schiff
article en

Abstract

1030 Background: T-DXd improves outcomes in HR+/HER2- mBC, yet response remains heterogeneous. Treatment selection is based on HER2 IHC. Preclinical models suggest signaling from HER family dimerization partners like EGFR drive resistance; specifically, EGFR overexpression impairs T-DXd internalization by favoring EGFR/HER2 heterodimerization. Because clinical data linking HER dimerization partners to T-DXd outcomes are limited, investigation is warranted to understand how expression of these partners may serve as predictive biomarkers. Methods: The Tempus Lens Platform was used to identify and analyze a cohort of patients (pts) with HR+/HER2- mBC treated with T-DXd (n = 224) and sacituzumab govitecan (SG) (n = 81, comparator) who underwent RNA (Tempus xR) and DNA (Tempus xT) sequencing within one year of treatment initiation. HER family gene expression ( EGFR/ERBB1, ERBB2/3/4 ) was quantified as transcripts per million (TPM) and reported as log2(TPM+1). High vs low groups were defined using median expression. Median real-world time to next treatment (rwTTNT) with T-DXd and real-world overall survival (rwOS) were calculated using Kaplan–Meier curves and compared using log-rank tests. Hazard ratios (HR) were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models. Results: The cohort (n = 305) had a median age of 60; 83% of pts’ race was reported as White, 9.6% Black or African American, 2.7% Asian, 7.6% Hispanic or Latino, and 4.3% unknown. Median HER family gene expression values were: ERBB1 ( EGFR ): 3.92; ERBB2 7.75; ERBB3 7.65; ERBB4 4.72. EGFR RNA expression was negatively correlated with ERBB2/3/4 (p < 0.0001). ERBB2/3/4 RNA expression was positively correlated with one another (p < 0.0001). Among pts treated with T-DXd, the EGFR -high group had shorter median rwTTNT (7.76 vs 13.25 months; HR = 2.17 95% CI 1.42-3.34, p < 0.001) and rwOS (13.71 vs 22.55 months, HR = 2.21; 95% CI 1.50-3.24, p < 0.001) compared to the EGFR -low group. In contrast, increased RNA expression of other HER family members was not associated with a significant difference in rwTTNT or rwOS. Among pts treated with SG, the EGFR -high group did not have significantly different rwTTNT (median 4.34 vs 5.56 months; HR = 1.30 95% CI 0.72-2.36, p = 0.4) or rwOS (median 14.47 vs 11.28 months; HR = 0.86, 95% CI 0.47-1.55, p = 0.6) compared with the EGFR -low group. Conclusions: Among pts with HR+/HER2- mBC treated with T-DXd, elevated EGFR , but not ERBB2/3/4 , RNA expression was associated with worse outcomes. EGFR overexpression did not modulate outcomes in pts treated with SG, highlighting a potential differential impact based on antibody target rather than payload. Further research is needed to confirm the utility of pre-treatment EGFR expression as a predictive biomarker for T-DXd treatment.

Journal of Clinical OncologyVol. 44(16_suppl)
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (US), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (US), University of California, Los Angeles (US), Baylor College of Medicine (US), UCLA Health (US), Baylor University Medical Center (US), City of Hope (US), Tempus Labs (United States) (US), UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
HER2/EGFR in Cancer Research
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