Dr. Skoulidis on the Rationale to Target TROP2 in Lung Cancer

Ferdinandos Skoulidis, MD, PhD, MRCP, assistant professor, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the rationale to target TROP-2 in lung cancer.

TROP2 is a transmembrane glycoprotein that is involved in intracellular calcium signaling transduction and facets of tumorigenesis, including proliferation and metastasis, Skoulidis explains. Notably, TROP2 is overexpressed across a range of cancer types, including lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell lung carcinoma, Skoulidis adds. As such, TROP2-directed treatments could offer a new generation of precision medicine–based lung cancer treatment.

Findings from the ongoing phase 1 TROPION-PanTumor01 trial (NCT03401385), which were presented during the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, demonstrated encouraging clinical efficacy with the TROP2-directed antibody-drug conjugate datopotamab deruxtecan (dato-DXd; DS-1062a) in patients with relapsed/refractory advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer. At the dosing regimen of 6 mg/kg every 3 weeks, dato-DXd elicited an overall response rate of 26% and a median duration of response of 10.5 months in these patients, many of whom received prior immunotherapy and chemotherapy, Skoulidis concludes.