Population pharmacokinetic and exposure–response analysis for trastuzumab administered using a subcutaneous “manual syringe” injection or intravenously in women with HER2-positive early breast cancer

PURPOSE: To characterize the population pharmacokinetics (PKs) of subcutaneous (SC) and intravenous (IV) trastuzumab in early breast cancer (EBC), assess the impact of covariates on trastuzumab PK, and evaluate fixed (nonweight-based) dosing for the SC regimen administrated via handheld syringe. METHODS: Serum trastuzumab concentrations from 595 patients with HER2-positive EBC in the HannaH study (fixed 600 mg SC trastuzumab or weight-based IV trastuzumab) were analyzed using nonlinear mixed-effects modeling. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the exposure–response relationships between PK, efficacy [pathologic complete response (pCR)], and safety [grade ≥3 adverse events (AEs)]. RESULTS: Trastuzumab PK was described by a two-compartment model with parallel linear and nonlinear elimination and first-order SC absorption, with a bioavailability of 77 %. Estimated total clearance (CL) values were 0.18–0.22 L/day for steady-state trough/peak concentrations of 75–148 µg/mL; the estimate for central volume of distribution was 2.9 L. Body weight and alanine transaminase, while showing significant effects on PK, only explained 8 % of the variability in CL. Exposure–response analyses showed no relationship between PK, pCR, and grade ≥3 AEs for either regimen. CONCLUSION: A fixed 600 mg SC dose of trastuzumab provides the desired exposure, with steady-state trough concentrations (35–123 μg/mL for the 5th–95th percentiles) above the historical target concentration of 20 μg/mL for efficacy. Fixed dosing is further supported by lack of an exposure–response relationship between PK, pCR, and grade ≥3 AEs. No dose adjustment per patient factors is required within the ranges studied. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00280-015-2922-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.