HER2 Regimen Nears Two-Year Disease Control in Gastroesophageal Cancer

A new HER2-targeted regimen may push survival closer to two years for some patients with gastroesophageal cancer, according to Dr. Elena Elimova, who discussed emerging data from the phase 3 HERIZON-GEA-01 trial in an exclusive interview with CURE at the 2026 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Elimova said the length of time patients lived without their cancer worsening stood out, particularly for those who received Ziihera (zanidatamab-hrii), Tevimbra (tislelizumab) and chemotherapy. In that group, progression-free survival reached 21 months, approaching a two-year mark that is rarely seen with available treatments in this setting.

She explained that longer disease control often goes hand-in-hand with how patients feel day-to-day. When tumors respond to treatment, patients may experience symptom relief and an improved quality of life.

Elimova also highlighted early signs of more durable benefit, noting a subset of patients who appear to be doing well long term. She cautioned, however, that continued follow-up is needed to better understand which patients are most likely to experience these extended outcomes.

Elimova is a staff medical oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Ontario, Canada, where she is also an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto.

Transcript

If approved, how could this regimen shift expectations for survival and quality of life?

Well, I think this is also what we’re waiting to see, but I think reaching this new benchmark of survival of two years will be meaningful to patients. I think the progression-free survival being this long, and then the duration of response — with Ziihera (zanidatamab), Tevimbra (tislelizumab), plus chemotherapy, [progression-free survival] was 21 months. So again, that was almost two years. We don’t usually see that with our treatments. So if patients are responding, they generally feel better and they have a better quality of life.

I think what’s really interesting about this regimen, too, is this tail on the curve. It seems like we have more long-term survivors, but I think longer follow-up is really important to help us elucidate who those really long-term survivors will be. Obviously, we hope to look at all of that eventually.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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