Good news that apparently another herceptin trial comes up with similar exellent results....
AND on a NINE week treatment.
RB
(Does anybody know if the full report of this trial is available - basis patient selection etc.)
http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/heal...out531131.html
ABSTRACT
Breast Cancer Drugs Limit Post-Surgery Recurrence
02.22.06, 12:00 AM ET
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- A new head-to-head study finds the chemotherapy drug docetaxel (Taxotere) beating another, vinorelbine (Navelbine), in helping extend patient survival after breast cancer surgery.
Finnish researchers reporting in the Feb. 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine also found that patients who received infusions of trastuzumab (Herceptin) were less likely to get recurrences.
"There were 42 percent less breast cancer recurrences during the first three years of follow-up among women treated with docetaxel as compared to those who received vinorelbine," said Dr. Heikki Joensuu, corresponding author and a physician at Helsinki University Central Hospital. "However, docetaxel was associated with more adverse effects [such as allergic reactions, swelling and fever]."
Those who got the Herceptin experienced 58 percent fewer cancer recurrences during the three-year follow-up than those who didn't get the drug, the researchers report.
The docetaxel/vinorelbine results were especially important, Joensuu said. "No prior study has compared single-agent docetaxel with single-agent vinorelbine as adjuvant treatment of breast cancer," he noted.
The study agrees with previous research, Joensuu added. "A few prior studies have shown that administration of adjuvant trastuzumab [Herceptin] for one year reduces the rate of breast cancer recurrence approximately by 50 percent in the subset of women who have HER2-positive breast cancer," he said. But those studies also found Herceptin to be linked with an increased risk for cardiac failure; that was not the case in this latest study.....................
However, the Herceptin was given over a much shorter time period -- nine weeks vs. a year in the previous trials.
Another expert said the study confirms previous research but also breaks new ground regarding Herceptin use.
"It is the first to use such a short course," said Dr. Mark Pegram, director of the women's cancer program at the Jonsson Cancer Center at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "We don't know the optimal duration of trastuzumab -- is nine weeks as good as one year?" That question remains to be confirmed, he said.
If the nine-week regimen turns out to be ideal, Pegram said, "it could be very good news for patients," sparing them time and much expense.
What the New Eng Jour Med says from Feb issue
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