Phase I/II Study of Intrathecal/Ommaya T-DXd in HER2-Expressing Breast Cancer With Leptomeningeal/Brain Metastases

Multiple clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of systemic T-DXd in advanced HER2-expressing breast cancer with leptomeningeal and/or brain metastases. However, the median survival of leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) patients remains only 3-4 months, and treatment options for isolated brain metastases are limited, underscoring the need for more effective therapeutic strategies. While systemic therapies have prolonged survival in advanced breast cancer, intracranial disease management remains constrained by a lack of effective local treatments. As the use of T-DXd increases, the progression of intracranial lesions in patients who have received prior local therapy or lack indications for radiotherapy has become a critical unmet clinical challenge. Conventional understanding holds that large biologic molecules poorly penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Preclinical studies detected neither T-DXd nor free DXd (payload) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and the distribution of T-DXd in human CSF remains uncharacterized. However, preliminary data suggest that intrathecal trastuzumab-alone or combined with pertuzumab-exhibits acceptable safety and efficacy in HER2-positive LM.