HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - Gene Profiling Predicts Resistance To Breast Cancer Drug Herceptin

heblaj01 · 02-20-2007, 08:13 PM

A section of the article reported by Rhonda appears to give support to some of the oncs who favor continuing Herceptin treatment after resistance develops:

They also discovered that resistant tumors continue to over-express the HER2 growth factor protein -- an important finding given that many scientists had thought that loss of HER2 was likely responsible for Herceptin resistance.

"Herceptin has revolutionized the care of HER2-positive breast cancer for many patients, but unfortunately, not for some. This work demonstrates that digging deeper into the molecular subtypes of these tumors helps us understand why some tumors are resistant and may point to ways to remedy that," said the study's lead author, Lyndsay Harris, M.D., associate professor and Director of the Breast Cancer Disease Unit at Yale University Medical Center.

If additional studies validate these findings, it may be possible to select those patients that will be resistant to Herceptin and treat them with additional drugs to restore Herceptin sensitivity, according to Harris. "Our goal is to see what the tumor tells us before any treatment starts and tailor therapy accordingly," she said.

02-20-2007, 08:13 PM	#4
heblaj01 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 543	Herceptin after progression A section of the article reported by Rhonda appears to give support to some of the oncs who favor continuing Herceptin treatment after resistance develops: They also discovered that resistant tumors continue to over-express the HER2 growth factor protein -- an important finding given that many scientists had thought that loss of HER2 was likely responsible for Herceptin resistance. "Herceptin has revolutionized the care of HER2-positive breast cancer for many patients, but unfortunately, not for some. This work demonstrates that digging deeper into the molecular subtypes of these tumors helps us understand why some tumors are resistant and may point to ways to remedy that," said the study's lead author, Lyndsay Harris, M.D., associate professor and Director of the Breast Cancer Disease Unit at Yale University Medical Center. If additional studies validate these findings, it may be possible to select those patients that will be resistant to Herceptin and treat them with additional drugs to restore Herceptin sensitivity, according to Harris. "Our goal is to see what the tumor tells us before any treatment starts and tailor therapy accordingly," she said.