Glaxo's experimental drug slows breast cancer spread by half - Jun. 3, 2006

[cathy34]

This is very exciting news! I don't really post here but I read alot. I have HER2 + BC that spread to my lungs. I am currently taking Navelbine with herceptin and for the first time in 2 years the nodes in my lungs are getting smaller.
I am really interested in speaking with my onc. on Friday about this new break through. I took Xeloda last summer just by itself and it didn't produce any results. But,this is very hopeful....

Read on...
http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/03/news...ncer/index.htm

Continue the fight~
Cathy34

[Sherryg683]

Yes, it says that it slowed the progression rate down from an average of 4months to those without it, to 8 months for those on it. Maybe I'm pessimistic but I was hoping for something more. ..sherryg683

[Adriana Mangus]

At least it's someting you never know. big companies are always working on new things..I'm optimistic...It's a big deal to me...

[cathy34]

Sherryg - I too would like something more...a cure would be great! This is great for those who's cancer didn't respond to herceptin alone or can't take it because their ejection fraction had decreased too much.
I tell my mom getting cancer is like gaining weight! It comes on so fast and hits you like a ton of bricks and takes FOREVER to get rid of.
Have only positive thoughts and one day we will get rid of this nasty illness!
God bless,
Cathy34

[Susan2]

Remember that they stopped the study early which shortens the average time to recurrence - if the recurrence occurs. Only 28% recurred using Tykerb during the study period compared to 43% on Xeloda alone.

So using Tykerb and Xeloda, 72% did not recur during the study period. What that says to me is it that there is a population where is works and a population where it does not work - but we don't know what the distinction is.

Just my opinion, of course.

[VaMoonRise]

I do like what it says here especially since I am on a clinical trial consisting of Herceptin, Taxol and Tykerb and so far I am responding well:

Amusa said that Tykerb might be used in conjunction with Herceptin to treat all forms of HER2 breast cancer, and the drug could be key in transforming breast cancer from a deadly disease to a chronic one.

[Christine MH-UK]

This is from a NY Times article from yesterday on the herceptin/xeloda trial:

"'Those results are quite impressive and clearly more impressive than any of us would have expected,' said Dr. Eric Winer, a breast cancer specialist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, who has been involved in testing the drug.

Dr. Winer, who has consulted for GlaxoSmithKline, predicted at a symposium here that death from the type of breast cancer treated with Herceptin and Tykerb, known as Her-2 positive, would be eliminated within 10 years. In an interview, he conceded that other drugs would have to be developed, but said he was confident they would be."

Maybe he's being overly optimistic, but they had another article on ASCO that claimed that the number of cancer drugs in phase III trials currently is greater than the number of drugs that have been approved so far and that opens up the possibility of better combinations being found.

[Sherryg683]

Didn't mean to sound pessimistic about it, I am just going through one of my moods today . You know...poor me...angry as hell.. I have been waiting for Tykerb to come out every since I heard of it and plan on getting my Oncologist to try like hell to get me on it along with the Herceptin. I am afraid that since I am now in remission, they will not approve me for it until the cancer comes back. Christine, you post is very uplifting..a cure or something pretty close would be awesome!..sherryg683

[mod*mom]

vamoonrise: thank you for participating in a clinical trial where you don't know what the side effects might be.
i wish you + all of us well.

[Shell]

Sherry-


I know what you mean about the 4 months and the 8 months - is it really that encouraging - but, the good news is I was in that trial, in the arm just getting xeloda, and I had been on the xeloda alone for 9 months without progression before I got to start taking the tykerb...

hang in there,
Shell

[cathy34]

now you're on the Tyberk? Any side effects? I was on Xeloda alone last summer and it did nothing for me. All the nodules in my lungs grew. I think I took it for 12 weeks and my Dr did another CT of my chest and she wasn't happy with the response so she took me off Xeloda and put me on Gemzar w/Avastin. That didn't work so great together either for me. Now I am on Navelbine w/herceptin and it is working.

Only Positive Thoughts!
Cathy

[alw]

Hi,

It appears that researchers are mostly talking about tykerb in place of herceptin in the event that people are not responding to herceptin, or are unable to take herceptin due to cardiac issues or progression.

I've seen somewhere (I'm not sure if it was on this board or another) someone post that tykerb and herceptin could be a "one-two punch" for HER2+ cancer since herceptin works on the "outside" of the cell and tykerb on the "inside". I have not seen any news from ASCO or otherwise indicating that the two drugs would be used in conjunction with each other.

Does anyone have any insight into this?

Regards,

Amy

[RobinP]

Isn't Nicola on a study with herceptin and lapatinib that opened for brain mets in Dec. 05? Wonder how she's doing.

[Shell]

Cathy-


I am on tykerb now w/ xeloda...no add'l side affects from the xeloda, except i was VERY fatigued the 1st 4-5 days of adding the tykerb to the mix, and i also seem to have a bit of a rash at times (but it blends in w/ the freckles pretty well...)

I'm glad the navelbine/herceptin combo is working for you...

regards,
Shell

[Christine MH-UK]

I think I saw a tykerb/herceptin trial there. Don't call it tykerb though, search for lapatinib.