Trop-2 Therapy in Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer in Italy: Clinical Opportunity and Regulatory Pitfalls
Sara Bravaccini, Roberta Maltoni
Abstract
Trop-2 is an ideal candidate for targeted therapeutics because it is a transmembrane protein with an extracellular domain overexpressed in a wide variety of tumors, and is upregulated in normal cells. Consequently, several Trop-2-targeted drugs have recently been developed for clinical use, such as anti-Trop-2 antibodies. Sacituzumab govitecan, a Trop-2-directed antibody and topoisomerase inhibitor drug conjugate, was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of metastatic triple-negative breast cancer and metastatic urothelial cancer. In Italy, this treatment cannot be used in clinical practice because it has not yet been approved by the Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco (AIFA, Rome, Italy). In Italy, this is not a new problem, in fact, when a new compound is approved by the U.S. and Europe, there is often a delay in its approval for use. The adoption of universal guidelines and the standardization of Trop-2 evaluation is urgently needed.