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HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Brain Metastases Appear to Respond to Treatment with Herceptin (Trastuzumab): Presented at SABCS

By Ed Susman

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- December 14, 2001 -- Preliminary studies suggest that treatment of brain metastases with Herceptin (trastuzumab) can increase survival in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

Though the number of patients investigated was small, the researchers say their data indicates a survival benefit with a combination of taxanes and Herceptin in patients with brain metastases that develop from breast cancer overexpressing the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2).

Maren Loebbecke, a researcher at Benjamin Franklin Medical Center, in Berlin, Germany, presented the results of this study at the 24^th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, in San Antonio, Texas.

"Herceptin comprises a powerful treatment option in the therapy of HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer," Loebbecke said. "Significant response rates and survival benefits have been established. Its effectiveness in patients with brain metastases, however, is still questionable, since a considerable number of patients develop brain metastases during Herceptin treatment."

Loebbecke, a fourth-year medical student at the medical center, presented data on 18 women with HER2-overexpressing breast cancer brain lesions who received taxane and/or trastuzumab treatment, and compared the results with patients receiving standard treatment for breast cancer.

"We saw a median survival of 25 months for the five patients who were treated with surgery, radiation, taxanes and Herceptin," Loebbecke said, "which compared with 10-month survival for six patients who received the same basic treatment but did not receive Herceptin."

Another group of nine patients with brain metastases who were treated with Herceptin and radiation had an average survival of 14 months. Four other patients who were treated only with Herceptin had a median survival of four months.

Loebbecke said that results are intriguing, "but right now we really can't say if Herceptin makes a difference. This was a retrospective analysis as well." However, she and her colleagues noted that the survival of 25 months was greater than that reported in the literature for patients who were treated similarly.

"Further studies regarding the central nervous system penetration of Herceptin and its effectiveness on brain metastases are required," Loebbecke said.

Her study, titled "Efficacy of Herceptin™ treatment on brain metastasis in women with HER2 overexpressing breast cancer", received funding support from Roche Pharmaceuticals.

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