The Cancer Treatments That Are Offering Continued Hope
- The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, held in Chicago each spring, brings together thousands of experts to explore groundbreaking cancer treatments, research, and patient care advancements.
- We looked at treatments highlighted in recent years to see if they are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), making them more available to patients, and what additional research might offer promise to more patients.
- One of the biggest treatment advances that helps redefine categories of breast cancer and provides fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy is Enhertu, an FDA-approved drug for women with high levels of the HER2 protein.
- Enhertu has been effective in improving survival and response rates for patients with metastatic, or stage 4, hormone-receptor-positive, HER2-low, and HER2-ultralow breast cancer. HER2-low means the protein is present in low amounts, and HER2-ultralow means even smaller amounts.
- Enhertu, which is also known as trastuzumab deruxtecan, is also being studied in gastric cancer, with data presented at the 2025 ASCO conference.
- Another mainstay among ASCO presenters is Verzenio, which first received FDA approval in 2017 to treat women with advanced hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. It’s since been approved to treat some early-stage breast cancers and, in 2025, received expanded approval for use combined with endocrine (hormone) therapy.
But we’re often asked if the news translates to real progress, if these treatments receive federal approval to treat patients outside of clinical trials, and whether treatment protocols evolve because of the studies presented at ASCO.
Read More‘Enhertu’: A Targeted Drug Making A Big Difference
One of the biggest treatment advances that has helped redefine categories of breast cancer and provides fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy is Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan), an FDA-approved drug for women with high levels of the HER2 protein, which can make cancer more aggressive. Enhertu was first approved by the FDA in 2019 for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Since then, it has received several FDA approvals to treat various advanced cancers. Clinical trials have shown Enhertu to be more effective than chemotherapy in improving survival and response rates for patients with metastatic — or stage 4 — hormone-receptor-positive (HR+), HER2-low, and HER2-ultralow breast cancer. HER2-low means the protein is present, and HER2-ultralow means the protein is present in tiny amounts.Enhertu targets cancer cells directly while avoiding healthy tissue, which is why the side effects commonly associated with chemotherapy — which impacts healthy cells in addition to cancer cells — are less severe.
WATCH: Treatment Option for HER2-Negative and HER2-Ultralow Breast Cancer
At the 2025 ASCO conference, updated results from the DESTINY-Breast09 trial showcased the promising impacts Enhertu continues to offer.
The study showed that starting treatment with Enhertu plus pertuzumab (a monoclonal antibody) kept HER2 positive (HER2+) advanced breast cancer from growing noticeably longer than the long-standing standard, which combined drugs taxane, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab.
The results showed that the trastuzumab deruxtecan plus pertuzumab approach reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 44% compared to the standard.
“That’s where the clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival matters,” Dr. Nancy Chan, director for breast cancer clinical research at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, tells SurvivorNet. “…It translates into, for patients, not just a longer time period from progression, but also better quality of life.”
Advanced Breast Cancer Patients With a Certain Gene Mutation Find Hope In Treatment That Doubles Progression-Free Survival
Another positive update came for about 40% of women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer have something known as a PIK3CA gene mutation. This mutation makes a protein in the PI3K enzyme overactive, which can lead to cancer cell growth.
Research presented at the ASCO annual meeting in 2024 spotlighted Itovebi (generic name: inavolisib) for its effectiveness in treating people with PIK3CA-mutated, hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative, locally advanced, or metastatic breast cancer.
Research indicates adding the drug to the treatment plan can double the time women go without their cancer progressing.
WATCH: Treating Advanced Breast Cancer
Inavolisib, combined with palbociclib (a targeted therapy)-fulvestrant (hormone therapy), received FDA approval in October 2024 — which improves access for patients.
The median progression-free survival for advanced breast cancer patients with the PIK3CA mutation, hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative was 15 months if they took inavolisib with palbociclib and fulvestrant. Patients who only took palbociclib and fulvestran with a placebo only saw 7.3 months of progression-free survival.
“We also saw that patients have less pain and actually the deterioration in those parameters [are better]. Can the patients actually maintain their quality of life? Can they maintain their daily functioning? And we were able to see that all those parameters actually stay stable,” Dr. Dejan Juric, medical oncologist at Mass General Cancer Center, explained to SurvivorNet.
Lung Cancer Patients With Abnormal Gene Mutation Have a Long-Awaited Treatment Option
Lung cancer specialists shared promising news at the 2024 ASCO annual meeting. While new treatments have been rare, researchers have been working hard to change that. Sotorasib (brand names: Lumakras, Lumykras) was worthy of the ASCO spotlight and offered hope to some lung cancer patients who had not seen new treatment options in years. It first received FDA approval in 2021, but ongoing research on its effectiveness demonstrated its continued potential.
Lung cancer patients with the KRAS gene mutation have an abnormal KRAS gene that produces a protein that helps cancer cells grow and spread. Most patients have their tumors tested through genetic testing, which analyzes a patient’s tumor to understand how it functions. This type of testing helps doctors select the best treatments. It’s important to note that this type of mutation does not typically overlap with other driver mutations, such as EGFR.
The CodeBreak clinical trial results were presented at the 2024 ASCO annual meeting.
WATCH: How Target Therapies Are Used for Advanced Lung Cancer
RELATED: First Targeted Lung Cancer Treatment for Patients with KRAS Mutation Sees Remarkable Trial Results
The CodeBreak trial studied the effectiveness of sotorasib compared to standard chemotherapy in treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with the KRAS G12C gene mutation, which makes up about 40% of mutations in NSCLC. Sotorasib only targets the KRAS G12C gene mutation and not other KRAS mutations.
Sotorasib shrank tumors with the KRAS mutation in around 36% of patients, with 81% of patients achieving disease control (complete response, partial response, or stable disease).
Dr. Roy Herbst, chief of medical oncology at Yale, told SurvivorNet: “We are excited we have a drug that could work in these patients. The fact that tumors respond to this therapy is a big deal.” Dr. Herbst also said he is optimistic about the future of drugs targeting KRAS and thinks the results of this study “opens up a whole new world for lung cancer.”
‘Trodelvy’ Cancer Treatment Is Bringing Brighter Days for Women With HER2-Negative, HR-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer
Women with stage 4 breast cancer who are HR-positive and HER2-negative may have been introduced to a treatment option that has gained more attention in recent years, especially after the 2023 ASCO annual meeting.
Trodelvy (generic name: sacituzumab govitecan-hziy) is a breast cancer treatment that first received FDA approval in 2020 for advanced triple-negative breast cancer. Triple-negative breast cancer means that the cancer is not being fueled by any of the three main types of receptors: estrogen, progesterone, or the HER2 protein.
The cancer drug Trodelvy works by combining an antibody with medicine (also called an antibody-drug conjugate) to target cancer cells. The antibody helps deliver the drug directly to cancer cells through the bloodstream. Patients receive the antibody-drug conjugate through an IV infusion. It is mainly used for women with advanced breast cancer that can’t be removed by surgery or has spread to other parts of the body.
WATCH: Promising Treatment for (HR)-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.
At the 2023 ASCO annual meeting, researchers highlighted Trodelvy and its ability to show an overall survival benefit: the duration of time a patient lives after diagnosis or treatment. The 3 TROPiCS-02 study compared Trodelvy to the treatment of physician’s choice in patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer whose disease did not respond or stopped responding to prior treatment.
Trodelvy extended by 3.2 months the survival of patients with advanced stages of a common type of breast cancer. Put another way, it reduced the risk of death by 21%. The results of the TROPiCS-02 study contributed to the FDA approval of Trodelvy.
Data presented at the 2025 ASCO meeting also show that combining Todelvy with pembrolizumab [brand name: Keytruda] can help patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer live longer without their cancer progressing.
The study was created to better understand how effective the combination was as a first treatment for patients battling unresectable (non-operable) locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer that had high levels of a protein called PD-L1.
Dr. Nancy Chan, the director of breast cancer clinical research at NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center, describes the research as “practice-changing.”
How The Cancer Treatment ‘Kisqali’ Is Making A Difference In Certain Breast Cancer Patients
Although the breast cancer treatment Kisqali (generic name: ribociclib) has been on the market since before its first FDA approval in 2017, research continues on the drug that helps treat women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer. At the 2024 ASCO annual meeting, Kisqali was in the spotlight as presenters highlighted results from Phase III of the NATALEE trial.
During the trial, Kisqali is used with an aromatase inhibitor — a type of hormone therapy — to treat stage 2 and 3 breast cancer patients who are HR-positive and HER2-negative. It helps block estrogen production and is meant for those at high risk of cancer coming back after treatment.
Data from a trial found that patients with HR+/HER2- stage II and III early breast cancer who received Kisqali, plus endocrine therapy, had a 25% lower risk of recurrence or death. The addition of ribociclib improved invasive disease-free survival.
In September 2024, Kisqali received additional FDA approval that reduces the risk of recurrence in people with HR+/HER2- early breast cancer.
WATCH: FDA-Approved Kisqali Offers Additional Treatment Option for Some Breast Cancer Patients
The FDA’s approval of Kisqali allows doctors to offer treatment with a CDK4/6 inhibitor to a significantly broader group of people as a powerful tool that, combined with endocrine therapy, can help further minimize their risk of cancer returning.
The Impact Breast Cancer Treatment Option ‘Verzenio’ Can Have on Women
Since 2017, the cancer drug Verzenio (generic name: abemaciclib) has received praise at the ASCO annual meeting. It helps treat women with advanced or metastatic hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. Presenters touted its continued effectiveness at the 2024 annual meeting.
This drug treatment slows cancer growth by blocking certain proteins. Verzenio contains CDK4/CDK6 inhibitors, which are targeted therapies that fight off proteins known as cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/CDK6). These proteins control how fast cells divide and multiply, and for women with breast cancer, they can cause cancer cells to grow uncontrollably. It’s the first-of-its-kind treatment to improve invasive disease-free survival, meaning it helps patients stay cancer-free longer after initial treatment.
During the Phase III postMONARCH trial, 368 patients were randomly assigned to take Verzenio and fulvestrant or take fulvestrant with a placebo. Patients who took Verzenio and fulvestrant did not see their disease worsen (progression-free survival PFS) for roughly six months compared to 5.3 months in patients who took fulvestrant with the placebo.
Verzenio received its first FDA approval in 2017 and a few more in later years. In 2021, it received FDA approval for use in patients with some early-stage breast cancers.
Earlier this year, the FDA approved an expanded use for Verzenio, in combination with endocrine therapy, for the adjuvant treatment — meaning treatment after the primary cancer treatment has already been administered — of adult patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-), node-positive, early breast cancer at a high risk of recurrence.
WATCH: Monitoring After Treatment
“In breast cancer, we have been prescribing many of the same drugs for so many years. This is definitely going to change the way we treat women with breast cancer in this category,” Dr. Neil Vasan, a medical oncologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, told SurvivorNet. “It’s great for patients that this is an option. We all have patients with high-risk diseases who need better treatment options.”
Lung Cancer Treatment ‘Tagrisso’ Continues to Offer Hope for Patients
Lung cancer treatment Tagrisso (generic name: osimertinib) may be familiar to some lung cancer patients as it first received FDA approval in 2015. Since then, it has received continuous research to find more effective ways to be used to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common type of lung cancer. The treatment has received additional FDA approvals to treat lung cancer patients with the EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) mutation. This mutation helps cancer cells proliferate or grow.
At the 2024 ASCO annual meeting, Tagrisso’s use during the Phase III LAURA study showed it significantly improved progression-free survival (how long a patient’s cancer remains stable and does not worsen or spread after treatment) in stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer patients with the EGFR mutation.
Tagrisso belongs to a class of drugs called tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). TKIs bind to the mutated EGFR protein on the surface of cancer cells. This prevents the protein from being activated, ultimately blocking cancer growth.
WATCH: Diagnosing Lung Cancer and Determining Treatment
The FDA has already approved Tagrisso in patients with early-stage EGFR-mutated NSCLC who underwent curative surgery followed by chemotherapy. It is also approved in EGFR-mutated advanced or metastatic lung cancer. The LAURA study also helped reinforce the standard treatment for EGFR-mutated stage 3 lung cancer.
Data presented at ASCO 2025 also showed that adding the drug before surgery, either by itself or combined with chemotherapy, led to a higher rate of tumor shrinkage for patients with stage 2 to 3B NSCLC with EGFR mutations compared to chemotherapy alone.
Women With Advanced HR-Positive Breast Cancer See Hope In Camizestrant
Data about camizestrant, a breast cancer treatment, was presented at the 2024 ASCO annual conference as part of the ongoing SERENA-6 clinical trial. The drug is for advanced breast cancer classified as hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative.
Camizestrant belongs to a class of drugs called selective estrogen receptor degraders (SERDs). SERDs bind to the estrogen receptor, which causes the receptor to become unstable. The unstable receptor is then degraded, preventing the cell from binding to estrogen, which is needed for cancer cell growth.
The FDA has not given camizestrant approval at this time.
WATCH: Treatment Options for Advanced Breast Cancer
One of the goals of the SERENA-6 clinical trial is to show that camizestrant helps with progression-free survival, which refers to how long patients can go without their cancer getting worse.
In SERENA-6, investigators tried switching to camizestrant at the first signs of an emerging ESR1 mutation, which refers to Estrogen Receptor 1. It is a protein that impacts the body’s response to estrogen.
At ASCO 2025, researchers explained that the camizestrant plus a CDK4/6 inhibitor combination reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 56% in patients with HR+ breast cancer and an emerging ESR1 mutation and the phase III SERENA-6 study was the first to demonstrate the value of closely monitoring circulating tumor DNA (with a blood test) so cancer can be treated before progression shows up on scans.
“SERENA-6 is a really important study in that it’s the first global, randomized phase III study that utilizes [circulating tumor] DNA guidance to direct therapy for patients,” Dr. Nancy Chan, director for breast cancer clinical research at NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center, tells SurvivorNet.
Dr. Chan describes the approach as “staying ahead of changes at a mutational level in the blood and using that to guide early changes or interventions in therapy.”
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