To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: DG DISPATCH - BREAST CANCER: Herceptin, In Adjunct Therapy, Reduces Tumor Size URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/15028E.htm Doctor's Guide December 13, 1999
By Robert Carlson Special to DG News SAN ANTONIO, TX -- December 13, 1999 -- Herceptin, the drug made from an antibody which works against the most aggressive types of breast cancer, is being teamed up with several different standard chemotherapy drugs in a search for synergistic activity. A trial based at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston is testing Herceptin and paclitaxel, while researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston are combining Herceptin with vinorelbine. Herceptin is a monoclonal antibody which treats breast cancer by blocking the HER2/Neu protein from attaching to breast cells. HER2/Neu, a growth-factor gene found in normal as well as in cancerous cells, produces the protein. In normal cells, the gene and its protein are thought to promote cell growth by signalling the cell to divide and multiply. Breast-cancer cells which produce an excess the HER2/Neu protein have an excess of receptors on their surface, which transmit the signal for the cancer cells to multiply at an accelerated rate. Between 25- and 30 percent of women with breast cancer have tumor cells which overproduce HER2/Neu. Treating these women with Herceptin can interfere with the biological process of those tumor cells and cause the tumor cells' death. Francisco J. Esteva, MD, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, gave an update on the condition of 62 women being treated with a combination of paclitaxel and Herceptin for advanced breast cancer. Both drugs are being given once per week. This was of considerable interest to the researchers here because paclitaxel is more commonly administered once every 21 days. Dr. Esteva reported that 64 percent of the women had responded to the two-drug combination, meaning that their tumors had shrunk in size by 50 percent or more. In three women, the tumors had shrunk completely. Interestingly, the combination also reduced tumor size by 50 percent or more in 37 percent of those women found to have tumors that did not produce an excess of HER2/Neu. This was unexpected because, theoretically, the Herceptin should have no effect on HER2/Neu-negative tumors. In a separate presentation, Eric Winer, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, described preliminary results of a treatment that combines Herceptin with the standard anticancer drug vinorelbine. Both drugs are being given once weekly. Among the 34 patients who have been treated long enough to be evaluated, 71 percent have had their tumors shrink by at least 50 percent. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.