Radio Feature: Groundbreaking Case Study Improves Veteran’s Prostate Cancer Treatment
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Stream on the web or tune into The Senior Zone on Spirit 1340 AM, Dr. Maneesh Jain Explains
Researchers from the Washington DC VA Medical Center and George Washington University, led by Maneesh Jain, MD, DC VAMC attending physician and GW oncologist, have published a landmark case report that signifies a potential breakthrough in treatment for a 60-year-old Air Force Veteran diagnosed with stage four metastatic prostate cancer. Dr. Jain Maneesh and the team found positive results with trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd), an antibody drug conjugate which is FDA approved for the treatment of a variety of HER2-expressing solid tumors including breast cancer. However, the antibody drug conjugate has not been studied in prostate cancer.
When the Veteran-patient did not respond to multiple lines of therapy and experienced persistent tumor progression, the researchers (as a last resort) tested for HER2 by immunohistochemistry, which came back positive. The team then treated the Veteran with the off-label antibody drug conjugate in February 2024. This was the first known case of using T-DXd for prostate cancer treatment, and after four cycles, the Veteran has shown a 57% overall reduction in tumor volume, including in the brain.
“This case highlights the promising potential of T-DXd in treating prostate cancer patients, particularly in aggressive forms,” said Dr. Maneesh Jain. “It also underscores the importance of routine HER2 expression testing in advanced prostate cancer, which could help identify more patients who might benefit from targeted therapies like T-DXd.”
The case report, “Response of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2–Expressing Prostate Cancer to Trastuzumab Deruxtecan“ was published November 4, 2024 in the Annals of Internal Medicine and funded by the Prostate Cancer Foundation. In addition to Jain, Coen Lap, Rithika Rajendran, Jose Manuel Martin, Asha Escobar, Angela M. Heiraty, Winnie Hahn and Victor E. Nava from the Washington DC VA Medical Center are co-authors on the study.