ASCO 2026 ADC Data Clarify Some Strategies and Raise Further Questions for Breast Cancer Care: With Paolo Tarantino, MD, PhD

In today’s episode, we spoke with Paolo Tarantino, MD, PhD. Dr Tarantino is a breast medical oncologist and advanced fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

In our exclusive interview, Dr Tarantino discussed practice-informing data regarding antibody-drug conjugates in breast cancer that were presented at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting, including the use of fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd; Enhertu) plus pertuzumab (Perjeta) for first-line treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer based on findings from the phase 3 DESTINY-Breast09 trial (NCT04784715); updated safety data from the phase 3 DESTINY-Breast05 trial (NCT04622319) that indicated that T-DXd–associated interstitial lung disease is reversible with steroids, although radiation pneumonitis is non-reversible; and the phase 3 OPTIMA trial (ISRCTN42400492) results, which suggested that the PAM50 signature can identify patients who may not need chemotherapy, potentially sparing them from unnecessary treatment.