American biotech company Gilead Sciences has announced promising clinical trial results showing that its drug Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan) reduced the risk of disease progression by 38% in patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) — one of the most aggressive and hard-to-treat forms of breast cancer.

The results, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) conference in Berlin, involved 558 women who had not received prior treatment. Those who took Trodelvy showed a median progression-free survival of 9.7 months, compared to 6.9 months for patients on standard chemotherapy.

Trodelvy, first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2020, works through an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) mechanism that targets cancer cells precisely, minimizing damage to healthy cells and reducing chemotherapy-related side effects.

Dr. Javier Cortes, Head of the International Breast Cancer Center in Spain and lead investigator of the trial, described the findings as “the first real therapeutic breakthrough in this patient population in nearly two decades,” highlighting the drug’s ability to delay disease progression and improve survival outcomes.

Gilead noted that overall survival data are still being collected and analyzed, with follow-up studies planned to confirm the long-term impact. Earlier this year, the company also reported that combining Trodelvy with the immunotherapy drug Keytruda reduced the risk of progression by an additional 35%, offering further promise for patients with advanced TNBC.

Experts believe that Trodelvy’s success could pave the way for a new standard of care in the fight against aggressive breast cancer, bringing renewed hope to patients worldwide.