Lung disease caused by a new drug for cancers—including metastatic or advanced breast cancer—can be effectively treated using approaches that focus on early detection and prompt management, according to a study published in ESMO Open on August 11, 2022.

Using data from nine clinical trials, this study provides one of the most comprehensive analyses of interstitial lung disease diagnosis and treatment in patients who received an antibody drug conjugate known as T-DXd, from a class of drugs designed as a targeted therapy for treating cancers.

The retrospective review examined 1,150 heavily pre-treated patients with breast, lung, gastric, colorectal or other cancers across nine studies treated with T-DXd, also known as ENHERTU.

“Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a known risk factor in patients treated with antibody drug conjugates for cancer,” said senior author Charles Powell, MD, MBA, Janice and Coleman Rabin Professor of Medicine and Chief of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

“Using learnings from the early clinical trials experience, physician education and patient management protocols were revised and disseminated by the study sponsors. More recent trial data in earlier lines of therapy has demonstrated lower rates of ILD events, suggesting close monitoring and proactive management of ILD/pneumonitis is warranted for all patients.”

The researchers reviewed data from four phase 1 and five phase 2 studies of T-DXd, where patients received varying doses of the cancer therapy every three weeks.

The research team also reviewed data from an independent clinical adjudication committee, chaired by Dr. Powell, which reviewed clinical information and chest CT imaging on all clinical trial patients with suspected drug-related interstitial lung disease, which can lead to lung fibrosis.   

In patients who were previously heavily treated with other cancer therapies, the analysis found that 15.4 percent (grade 1 or 2, 77.4%; grade 5, 2.2%) experienced interstitial lung disease—with low-grade symptoms typically occurring within the first 12 months—after treatment with T-DXd.

Interstitial lung disease is a known risk of several cancer therapies, including T-DXd, which can be severe, life-threatening, or fatal.

These study results suggest that close monitoring and proactive management may reduce the risk of ILD, and patient awareness and ongoing education can aid in early detection.

This study was sponsored by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo. Experts from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York; Aichi Cancer Center in Nagoya, Japan; Cancer Institute Hospital of JFCR in Tokyo, Japan; Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Università Degli Studi di Milano in Milan, Italy; Niguarda Cancer Center in Milan, Italy; National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei City, Taiwan; and University of Colorado Cancer Center in Aurora, Colorado, contributed to this research.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education.

Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.

Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment.

The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and speciality care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers.

We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals, receiving high “Honor Roll” status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopaedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology.

New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. 

U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several paediatric specialities.

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: It is consistently ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Medical Schools,” aligned with a U.S. News & World Report “Honour Roll” Hospital, and top 20 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding and top 5 in the nation for numerous basic and clinical research areas.

Newsweek’s “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals” ranks The Mount Sinai Hospital as No. 1 in New York and in the top five globally, and Mount Sinai Morningside in the top 20 globally.

Source: The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine