Paolo Tarantino, Clinical Research Fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.
When I joined the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2021, two of the most important unanswered questions in breast oncology were how to optimally sequence ADCs and how to treat patients with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer after T-DXd.
We designed the SATEEN phase 2 trial to generate prospective data in these areas of major unmet need.
Today we presented a first answer at ESMO Breast 2026. In 27 heavily pretreated patients with HER2+ disease, sacituzumab govitecan plus trastuzumab showed very limited activity after prior T-DXd, suggesting that delivering a similar chemotherapy payload (TOPO1i) through a different target (Trop2) may not be an effective strategy in this setting.
The next step is correlative science: identifying biomarkers of ADC sensitivity and resistance, refining how we sequence these agents, and developing more tailored post-T-DXd strategies for our patients.
Negative trials are never the end of the story. When done well, they help us ask better questions.
Profoundly grateful to the patients that participated to the trial, Ada Waks for the mentoring and Gilead Sciences for supporting this investigator-initiated trial.”
Other Articles Featuring Paolo Tarantino On Oncodaily.