Addition
of Herceptin ® to Taxotere ® Nearly Doubles Survival
in Metastatic Breast Cancer
According to results presented at the 12th European Conference
on Clinical Oncology (ECCO), the addition of Herceptin ®
to Taxotere ® nearly doubles the duration of survival,
improves progression-free survival and increases anti-cancer
response rates in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast
cancer, compared to treatment with Taxotere ® alone.
Metastatic breast cancer refers to cancer that has spread
from the breast to several and/or distant sites in the body,
often invading vital organs. Although cure rates for breast
cancer that has not spread from its site of origin are high,
cure rates with standard treatment for metastatic breast cancer
remain dismal. Treatment for metastatic breast cancer is typically
not administered with curative intent, but rather to improve
quality of life and/or improve the duration of survival. Taxanes
(Taxotere ® or paclitaxel) are among the most active chemotherapy
agents used for the treatment of breast cancer.
A type of breast cancer, referred to as human epithelial
receptor ?2 (HER2) positive breast cancer, is characterized
by the overexpression of HER2 proteins on the surface of the
cancer cells. HER2-positive breast cancer is stimulated to
grow through biological mechanisms and tends to be aggressive
in nature. Herceptin ® (trastuzumab), is a monoclonal antibody
that is specifically targeted against HER2-positive cancers
and is approved for the treatment of HER2-positive breast
cancer. Monoclonal antibodies are proteins that are synthesized
through laboratory processes to recognize and bind to very
specific parts of a cell. This binding action stimulates the
immune system to fight the cancer and is also implicated in
the direct killing of the cancer cell to which it is bound.
A recent clinical trial was conducted to compare Taxotere ®
with or without Herceptin ® in women with HER2-positive
metastatic breast cancer. This trial involved 188 patients,
half of whom were treated with Taxotere ® plus Herceptin ®
and half of whom were treated with Taxotere ® alone. Anti-cancer
responses were achieved in 61% of patients treated with Taxotere ®/Herceptin ®,
compared to only 36% of patients treated with Taxotere ®
alone. Time to cancer progression was 10.6 months for those
treated with combination therapy, compared to only 6.1 months
for those treated with Taxotere ® alone. Overall survival
was nearly doubled, 24.1 months for those treated with Taxotere ®/Herceptin ®,
compared with 13.2 months for those treated with Taxotere ®
alone. Treatment was generally well tolerated by both groups
of patients and there were no unexpected side effects reported.
Febrile neutropenia (low immune cell levels accompanied by
fever) were slightly higher in the group of patients treated
with combination therapy compared to those treated with Taxotere ®
alone (19% vs. 16%).
The researchers concluded that these results confirm previous
findings, in that the addition of Herceptin ® to chemotherapy
improves survival compared to chemotherapy alone in patients
with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Results from
this trial in particular indicate that Taxotere ® and Herceptin ®
is safe and improves outcomes compared to Taxotere ® alone
in this group of patients. Women who have been diagnosed with
breast cancer should speak with their physician about being
tested for HER2 positivity and the risks and benefits of treatment
consisting of Taxotere ® and Herceptin ®.
Reference: Extra JM, Cognetti F, Chan S, Maraninichi D, et
al. Randomised phase II trial of trastazumab (Herceptin ®)
plus docetaxel versus docetaxel alone, as first-line therapy
in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Proceedings
from the 12th European Conference on Clinical Oncology, September
21-25, 2003, Copenhagen Denmark.
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