Experimental drug dubbed T-DM1 shows stunning results delaying progression of breast cancer
Drug delivers cancer-killing chemicals to tumors sparing healthy cells
Roche Holding developed a man-made antibody under the brand name Herceptin, part of an experimental drug in the fight against breast cancer.
An experimental drug has shown stunning results in delaying the progression of a specific type of breast cancer and prolonging the lives of patients.
The drug, dubbed T-DM1, acts like a “smart bomb” that delivers cancer-killing chemicals directly to tumors while sparing surrounding healthy cells.
Researchers say the combo has been effective in treating women with HER2-positive breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease battled by about 25% of breast cancer patients.
The treatment can stop the disease from metastasizing for 9.6 months, compared with 6.4 months with standard therapies.
“It’s a brand-new way of treating HER2-positive breast cancer,” lead study author Dr. Kimberly Blackwell told CNN. “This will offer a very important therapeutic option for patients faced with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.”
Blackwell, a professor of medicine at Duke University, said patients on the experimental drug also had fewer side effects like nausea and fatigue than those undergoing standard cancer-fighting therapies.
Results of the study of 1,000 patients were revealed Sunday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago.
The T in T-DM1 refers to the drug called trastuzumab emtansine, a man-made antibody developed by Roche Holdings under the brand name Herceptin. DM1 refers to the powerful chemotherapy called emtasine.
About 65% of participants getting the T-DM1 combo treatment were still alive after two years, compared with 48% of patients on standard treatment, Blackwell said.
“The data are pretty compelling,” said Dr. Michael Link, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
“It’s sort of a smart bomb kind of therapy, a poison delivered to the tumor . . . and not a lot of other collateral damage to other organs,” he told ABC News.
With News Wire Services
whutchinson@nydailynews.com
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-sty...breast-cancer-article-1.1089384#ixzz1wpy4jOll
Drug delivers cancer-killing chemicals to tumors sparing healthy cells
Roche Holding developed a man-made antibody under the brand name Herceptin, part of an experimental drug in the fight against breast cancer.
An experimental drug has shown stunning results in delaying the progression of a specific type of breast cancer and prolonging the lives of patients.
The drug, dubbed T-DM1, acts like a “smart bomb” that delivers cancer-killing chemicals directly to tumors while sparing surrounding healthy cells.
Researchers say the combo has been effective in treating women with HER2-positive breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease battled by about 25% of breast cancer patients.
The treatment can stop the disease from metastasizing for 9.6 months, compared with 6.4 months with standard therapies.
“It’s a brand-new way of treating HER2-positive breast cancer,” lead study author Dr. Kimberly Blackwell told CNN. “This will offer a very important therapeutic option for patients faced with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.”
Blackwell, a professor of medicine at Duke University, said patients on the experimental drug also had fewer side effects like nausea and fatigue than those undergoing standard cancer-fighting therapies.
Results of the study of 1,000 patients were revealed Sunday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago.
The T in T-DM1 refers to the drug called trastuzumab emtansine, a man-made antibody developed by Roche Holdings under the brand name Herceptin. DM1 refers to the powerful chemotherapy called emtasine.
About 65% of participants getting the T-DM1 combo treatment were still alive after two years, compared with 48% of patients on standard treatment, Blackwell said.
“The data are pretty compelling,” said Dr. Michael Link, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
“It’s sort of a smart bomb kind of therapy, a poison delivered to the tumor . . . and not a lot of other collateral damage to other organs,” he told ABC News.
With News Wire Services
whutchinson@nydailynews.com
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-sty...breast-cancer-article-1.1089384#ixzz1wpy4jOll
