Herceptin®, known generically as trastuzumab, is a product of Genentech. Trastuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to the HER2 receptor. It has been shown to improve treatment response rates, time to progression, and survival. The United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it in 1998 for the treatment of metastatic disease.
Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) is a combination of trastuzumab and deruxtecan that has shown better progression-free survival and overall survival than trastuzumab on its own. T-DXd, known by the brand name Enhertu®, effectively targets tumor cells that express low levels of HER2. Enhertu® received FDA approval in 2019.
Tucatinib, known as Tukysa®, binds to the part of the HER2 protein that is inside the cell, preventing it from sending signals that promote cell growth. This targeted therapy is called a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Tukysa® was approved by the FDA in 2020.
