HER2 is a protein in the body that plays a role in cell growth. However, this protein doesn’t always work correctly. This is called “overexpression.” When HER2 overexpression occurs in a cell, it can grow rapidly. If this growth is not controlled, tumors can form. HER2 can cause different types of cancer such as breast, esophageal, and bladder cancers.
Sometimes, standard cancer treatments don’t work on cancers that overexpress HER2 proteins because the cancer cells learn to escape and camouflage themselves from your immune system. The development of HER2 targeted therapies, such as the study treatment being investigated in the CT-0508 Study 101 trial and the CT-0508 in combination with Pembrolizumab substudy, are needed.