Enhertu shows progression-free survival benefit in lung cancer trial

Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca revealed promising data from the DESTINY-Lung04 phase 3 trial on Enhertu, a HER2-targeted antibody drug conjugate, at the IASLC 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer. The research demonstrated that Enhertu provided a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival for patients with HER2 mutant non-small cell lung cancer, compared to the standard of care treatment of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy.

In the primary analysis, Enhertu led to a 37% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death, with a hazard ratio of 0.63. The median progression-free survival with Enhertu was 14.3 months, compared to 8.3 months for the standard treatment, as determined by blinded independent central review. Patients treated with Enhertu also had a 70% objective response rate, versus 44.5% for those receiving the standard therapy.

The median duration of response was 13.4 months with Enhertu, and 9.7 months with the standard treatment.

While the overall survival data showed a 46.9% maturity rate, no formal hypothesis testing was conducted at the time of analysis. The companies acknowledged that varying and imbalanced subsequent therapy patterns between the treatment groups may limit the interpretation of the results. The safety profile of Enhertu in the trial was generally consistent with its known profile, with no new safety signals identified.

Grade 3 or higher treatment-related adverse events occurred in 34.1% of patients treated with Enhertu, including interstitial lung disease or pneumonitis in 20.8% of patients. Four grade 5 interstitial lung disease events were reported in the Enhertu group. The trial included 454 patients across multiple sites in Asia, Europe, and North America, with 50 patients remaining on treatment as of the data cut-off date of June 9, 2026.