Source: DGNews  |  Posted 8 years ago

By Robert H. Carlson

ST. GALLEN, SWITZERLAND -- March 17, 2003 -- An interim report from an ongoing trial of trastuzumab (Herceptin) is showing it is heart-safe when given as adjuvant monotherapy in women with metastatic breast cancer, even at 3 times the standard dose in a once-every-3-week schedule.

This schedule is more convenient than the approved weekly schedule, researchers said, and it is being used in the large, ongoing Herceptin Adjuvant (HERA) trial.

Cardiotoxicity is a concern with Herceptin therapy because earlier trials involving women with advanced breast cancer found that adding the antibody to anthracycline-based chemotherapy reduced left-ventricular ejection fractions (LVEF) in some patients.

During a session here at the 8th International Conference on Primary Therapy of Early Breast Cancer, Jos