# Real-world outcomes of reduced-dose versus standard-dose antibody drug conjugates in metastatic breast cancer: a retrospective cohort study

**Authors:** Nickolas Stabellini, Jasskiran Kaur, Cynthia Owusu, Bahar Moftakhar, Takae Mizukami, Sonia D. de Oliveira, Alberto J. Montero

PMC · DOI: 10.1007/s10549-025-07891-4 · Breast Cancer Research and Treatment · 2026-01-20

## TL;DR

This study found that lower doses of two antibody drug conjugates used to treat metastatic breast cancer had similar outcomes to standard doses in real-world patients.

## Contribution

The study provides real-world evidence that reduced doses of SG and T-DXd may be as effective as standard doses in metastatic breast cancer.

## Key findings

- Reduced-dose SG showed similar progression-free and overall survival to standard-dose SG.
- Reduced-dose T-DXd had comparable or better survival outcomes than standard-dose T-DXd.
- Overall response rates were similar between reduced and standard doses for both drugs.

## Abstract

To evaluate whether reduced doses (RD) of trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) or sacituzumab govitecan (SG) provide similar outcomes to the approved standard doses (SD) in metastatic breast cancer (mBC).

This retrospective cohort included mBC patients receiving at least one cycle of SG (April 2021–May 2024) or T-DXd (February 2020–December 2024). Primary outcomes were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Kaplan–Meier curves and Log-Rank tests estimated and compared PFS and OS from treatment initiation. Subgroup analyses were performed by HER2 and hormone receptor status.

48 patients received SG (24 RD vs. 24 SD) and 66 received T-DXd (29 RD vs. 37 SD). Median PFS for SG was 3 months in both SD (95% CI, 2–10) and RD (95% CI, 2–8; p = 0.8). Median OS for SG was 10 months (95% CI, 7–13) for SD and 11 months (95% CI, 5–30; p = 0.4) for RD. For T-DXd, median PFS was 10.4 months for SD (95% CI, 7.0–14.5) and 11.2 months for RD (95% CI, 5.4–31.1; p = 0.8), while median OS was 18.3 months (95% CI, 13.9–NA) for SD and 28.1 months (95% CI, 18.2–NA; p = 0.9) for RD. Overall response rates were similar between patients receiving RD and SD SG or T-DXd.

This real-world data suggest RD of SG or T-DXd achieve outcomes comparable to SD, supporting prospective evaluation of lower-dose regimens.

## Linked entities

- **Chemicals:** sacituzumab govitecan (PubChem CID 91668186)

## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** ERBB2 (erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2) [NCBI Gene 2064] {aka CD340, HER-2, HER-2/neu, HER2, MLN 19, MLN-19}, NR4A1 (nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 1) [NCBI Gene 3164] {aka GFRP1, HMR, N10, NAK-1, NGFIB, NP10}
- **Diseases:** breast cancer (MESH:D001943)
- **Chemicals:** SG (MESH:C000608132), T-DXd (-), trastuzumab (MESH:D000068878)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Full text

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## Figures

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## References

7 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12819492/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12819492