"remarkable results" presented for adding Perjeta(pertuzumab)to Herceptin for StageIV
 

patients


Roche breast cancer drug shows 'unprecedented' survival benefit
BY BEN HIRSCHLER
MADRID Sun Sep 28, 2014 3:15am EDT
REUTERS/Aly Song

CREDIT: REUTERS/ALY SONG


Health

(Reuters) - A new breast cancer drug from Roche has shown "unprecedented" survival benefits in a clinical trial, boosting prospects for its widespread use in women with an aggressive form of the disease.

Patients with a type of breast cancer known as HER-2 positive, which makes up about a quarter of all breast cancers, who were given Perjeta on top of older medicine Herceptin and chemotherapy lived 15.7 months longer than those on Herceptin and chemotherapy alone.

“The survival improvement of nearly 16 months ... is unprecedented among studies of metastatic breast cancer,” lead researcher Sandra Swain from the Washington Hospital Center told the European Society for Medical Oncology annual congress on Sunday.



Perjeta, which was approved by regulators two years ago, was tested in the Roche-backed study in more than 800 women with metastatic disease, whose breast cancer had spread to other parts of the body.

Researchers had previously reported the Perjeta drug regimen significantly extended progression-free survival, or the period of time patients live without their disease worsening, but the final overall survival data has taken longer to collect.

The median overall survival time was 56.5 months for those given Perjeta against 40.8 months for patients taking only the older drugs.

REMARKABLE RESULTS

Javier Cortes, another researcher on the study from the Vall D’Hebron Institute of Oncology in Barcelona, said the results were "remarkable" and suggested using Perjeta should be the standard of care for HER-2 positive breast cancer patients.

A favourable reaction from oncologist will underpin expectations of strong sales for Perjeta, which analysts currently expect to sell $3.1 billion a year by 2018, according to consensus forecasts compiled by Thomson Reuters Cortellis.

But it poses a challenge for healthcare providers, since Perjeta is a costly drug and the multiple-drug regimen promises to strain budgets.

For Roche, Perjeta is an important new product that should help defend its position in breast cancer, following the success of Herceptin, which was first approved in 1998.

The company said the latest data would be submitted to regulatory authorities around the world for inclusion in the prescribing information for Perjeta.

Both Herceptin and Perjeta are antibodies designed to block the function of HER2, a protein produced by a cancer-linked gene. Pertuzumab binds to a different part of the same protein, which makes combining the two drugs extra effective.

The safety profile of Perjeta in the long-term analysis presented in Madrid did not reveal any new problems and was consistent with previous evidence, including Perjeta’s long-term cardiac safety.

The Swiss drugmaker also has another related drug called Kadcyla, which is also being tested in combination with Perjeta. Some analysts believe Kadcyla's prospects could be curbed if results from that combination are not better than the impressive findings reported this weekend.

(Editing by David Holmes)

Re: "remarkable results" presented for adding Perjeta(pertuzumab)to Herceptin for Sta
 

Yahoo! I'm living proof it works well for early stage given my pCR. I hope that it continues to work wonders for Stage IV sisters especially!!

Re: "remarkable results" presented for adding Perjeta(pertuzumab)to Herceptin for Sta
 

MOVING THIS UP AS IT IS THE MOST REMARKABLE HER2 NEWS EVER

THE MOST REMARKABLE BREAST CANCER NEWS EVER

AND ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE RESULTS EVER FOR ANY TREATMENT AGAINST ONE OF THE THREE MOST COMMON CANCERS.

FOR ALL THOSE NAY-SAYERS, WHO DEEMED IT DIDN'T MATTER WHAT AGENT OR COMBINATION OF AGENTS GIVEN OR WHAT ORDER GIVEN A STAGE FOR BREAST CANCER PATIENT WAS DOOMED DIE ON AVERAGE 2 YRS AFTER DIAGNOSIS, MUCH SOONER IF HER2 + (HEARD DR HAYES OF U OF MICHIGAN SAY THIS AT A BC MEETING IN May 2005--WHAT A DIFFERENCE 9 YEARS AND LOTS OF RESEARCH MAKES!!!

Re: "remarkable results" presented for adding Perjeta(pertuzumab)to Herceptin for Sta
 

Thank you Lani! This is wonderful news! When will Perjeta be available for all stage IVs? I hope fast now.

Re: "remarkable results" presented for adding Perjeta(pertuzumab)to Herceptin for Sta
 

Thanks! This really is wonderful News! I so hope that all Stage IV sisters get access to this drug ASAP, and that research will continue in leaps and bounds.

Being an incorrigible optimist I say: one day, this beast will be curable, too! I sure hope that will be during my lifetime...

Re: "remarkable results" presented for adding Perjeta(pertuzumab)to Herceptin for Sta
 

Thanks so much for posting. This is such brilliant news! I just wanted to say that I hope this will be available for women in the UK. So far NICE ( the body we have here which determines which drugs are available for us) has rejected the last 8 new cancer drugs on the basis they don't represent value for money and quality of life!
I hope and pray that this combo will not be viewed in the same way!

Ellie

Re: "remarkable results" presented for adding Perjeta(pertuzumab)to Herceptin for Sta
 

I'm living proof that it works. I had intractable liver mets: 7 different chemos, half my liver removed, liver ablation, finally chemo starting to destroy my bone marrow, SBRT and then Perjeta and Herceptin combo made me NED in one year.

I got it two months after the FDA approved it for metsters and have been on it ever since. And, I was pronounced NED this summer.

We don't know how long it will work, how long I should be on it, nothing. But I am very very happy with my success and I wish everybody has the same results I have had. And I'm pleased the early stage women get it now too - it might prevent all the suffering I have been through. I would urge all HER2+ women to look into getting it, and don't let the FDA prescribing recommendations stop you. It can be prescribed off-label as mine is - I get Perjeta and Herceptin alone. Doctors have the ability to do that, it does not *have* to be prescribed with a chemo.

Here is a picture of me right before I started Perjeta - I was either on my 6th or 7th chemo and had not started Perjeta yet. And right next to it is one of me today.

I think you can see how much healthier I am, especially if you look at my eyes. They were taken in the same location, by the same person, the same month. (Sorry they are kind of large, I wish I could make them smaller.)

Perjeta is truly a miracle for those whom it works for. I hope it lasts and I'm cured, but if not, I have had a wonderful year I didn't expect, in which I saw my son graduate high school and go to college, and my stepdaughter had my first grandchild. I want that for all women with cancer.

http://i.imgur.com/f0RZYkul.jpg

Re: "remarkable results" presented for adding Perjeta(pertuzumab)to Herceptin for Sta
 

Thank you Lani for such a supportive news.
I'm having one more information in case of PD.

And Coolbreeze ... you look truly healthy and beautiful. Wishing you for many more years NED.

Re: "remarkable results" presented for adding Perjeta(pertuzumab)to Herceptin for Sta
 

Coolbreeze you look amazing! Gives me so much hope. I started Perjeta, Herceptin, Zometa recently hope I get the great results Im hearing from others

Re: "remarkable results" presented for adding Perjeta(pertuzumab)to Herceptin for Sta
 

Don't make those pictures smaller....they bring us all so much hope. You look so stunning on the right --it brings tears to my eyes knowing that after all you have been through you are able to look and feel so good again.

Re: "remarkable results" presented for adding Perjeta(pertuzumab)to Herceptin for Sta
 

Coolbreeze your picture and your fight are just amazing! All you stage IV ladies are amazing. I hope that this new study is able to bless so many cancer Dx.
I was stage 3c with a highly agressive cancer beyond just her2 and needless to say there is always that part if me that fears a stage IV Dx ... To know that there are long term survivors as well as new drugs and trials to help us all remain NED is of some comfort.

Re: "remarkable results" presented for adding Perjeta(pertuzumab)to Herceptin for Sta
 

Ah, Ann - you look amazing! So happy for you and all the others who have benefited from perjeta

Re: "remarkable results" presented for adding Perjeta(pertuzumab)to Herceptin for Sta
 

I'm on Herceptin and Perjeta too, though I started out with no chemo and now I'm taking Xeloda, which I'm tolerating well.

The best thing about the "mab" drugs (stands for "monoclonal antibody") is they allow for a near-normal quality of life for most folks (though of course not all.) If you don't get any heart toxicity or lung problems, you can breeze right through them.

Ann, thanks so much for the pictures. You look fantastic. I love your long, thick hair. And Lani, keep the good news coming!

Re: "remarkable results" presented for adding Perjeta(pertuzumab)to Herceptin for Sta
 

Greetings all,

Count me in on this one. I started the Perjeta/Herceptin combo on August 1, 2012 and have been NED since. Enjoying family and friends, working fulltime, and traveling. All is good thus far. How wonderful news for all of you. And Ann, I love your blog. You are a true advocate; seeing the big picture of this whole breast cancer crap. May us Stage IV women get through October. Peace to all of you.

Take care,

Jackie