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Herceptin Still Improves Odds Against Breast Cancer
Latest analysis found benefit stayed the same four years later
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
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MONDAY, June 4 (HealthDay News) -- After almost a decade of use, Herceptin continues to prolong the lives of women with a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer.
An analysis of two clinical trials showed that breast cancer patients receiving Herceptin along with chemotherapy have better survival and fewer recurrences after four years, compared to patients receiving chemotherapy alone. Previous data had shown improved outcomes only over two years.
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"When we presented the original data in 2005, people wondered if the benefits were going to be maintained or were we just seeing acute, short-term benefits in this aggressive type of breast cancer," said Dr. Edith Perez, director of the Multidisciplinary Breast Clinic at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., and the primary investigator of one of the trials. "The data now states that the benefit is completely maintained over time, maybe even increasing, without any increase in toxicity."
Perez presented the results of the joint analysis Monday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Chicago.
"The prediction that women would continue to do well appears to be accurate," added Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. "This seems to confirm another substantial advance in treating cancer with molecular therapies. There's a lasting benefit, and that's important."
"This is great news for women," added Dr. Ramona Swaby, a medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. "It's reassuring because we're so used to using Herceptin in a non-curative [ie preventive] setting."
Herceptin, which was approved to treat advanced breast cancer in 1998, is effective in the 20 percent to 25 percent of breast cancer cases that test positive for the HER2/neu receptor.
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Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 6/4/2007
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SOURCES: Edith Perez, M.D., director, Mayo Clinic's Multidisciplinary Breast Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla.; Len Lichtenfeld, M.D., deputy chief medical officer, American Cancer Society, Atlanta; Ramona Swaby, M.D., medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia; June 4, 2007, presentation, American Society of Clinical Oncology
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