Relationship between tumour biomarkers and efficacy in EMILIA trial identified women most likely to benefit from T-DM1

Patients in all biomarker subgroups in the EMILIA study had longer progression-free survival and overall survival with T-DM1 vs lapatinib plus capecitabine. In a biomarker subanalysis, patients with tumours expressing high HER2 mRNA levels derived even greater overall survival benefit from T-DM1. Lapatinib plus capecitabine-treated patients with PIK3CA mutations had worse outcomes than those with wild type PIK3CA. T-DM1-treated patients with PIK3CA mutations had a similar treatment benefit as those without, suggesting that the unique mechanism of action of T-DM1 may overcome PIK3CA mutation resistance. The findings were presented by Dr José Baselga, physician-in-chief at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, USA, at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, held in Washington, D.C., April 6-10. Read more here.