Dr Erika Hamilton speaks to ecancer about the HER2CLIMB-05 study, investigating the efficacy and safety of adding tucatinib to trastuzumab and pertuzumab (TRAS + PERT) as maintenance therapy for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer after first-line chemotherapy. This study was presented at SABCS 2025.

Dr Hamilton explains that tucatinib, when added to TRAS + PERT, significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared to placebo, with a hazard ratio of 0.641 (p < 0.0001). The benefit was consistent across all patient subgroups, including those with brain metastases at baseline.

She highlights that while overall survival data is still immature, a positive trend favouring tucatinib was observed. The treatment was generally well tolerated, with common side effects including diarrhoea, nausea, and elevated liver enzymes.

Dr Hamilton concludes that tucatinib could represent an important new addition to first-line maintenance therapy for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, offering sustained disease control with manageable safety.