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heblaj01 · 06-18-2006, 07:09 AM

Kate,

I read the full text of the essay by Ralph Moss titled "Herceptin..Deceptin".
He does not deny that Herceptin is a good drug . He complains that some of the glorious comments made after the release of trial results in 2005 were exagerated mainly because they only considered the relative risk reduction of recurrence, not the absolute reduction & did not dwell on overall survival.
He criticizes the validity of combining the statistical data of 2 trials .
He also seem to imply that the most optimistic commentators were biased because one way or another they were compensated financially by the manufacturer of the drug for their services as medical advisors or trial supervisors.

However, one must recognize, based in large part on what is reported on this web site, that Herceptin is the first low toxicity drug to effectively treat one of the agressive form of breast cancer, providing in many cases medium to long term regression or stabilization of the disease.
The QOL afforded by Herceptin compared to previously used chemo & the prolonged survival which increases the probability of getting a newer treatment (such as Lapatinib) cannot be ignored.

06-18-2006, 07:09 AM	#2
heblaj01 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 543	Kate, I read the full text of the essay by Ralph Moss titled "Herceptin..Deceptin". He does not deny that Herceptin is a good drug . He complains that some of the glorious comments made after the release of trial results in 2005 were exagerated mainly because they only considered the relative risk reduction of recurrence, not the absolute reduction & did not dwell on overall survival. He criticizes the validity of combining the statistical data of 2 trials . He also seem to imply that the most optimistic commentators were biased because one way or another they were compensated financially by the manufacturer of the drug for their services as medical advisors or trial supervisors. However, one must recognize, based in large part on what is reported on this web site, that Herceptin is the first low toxicity drug to effectively treat one of the agressive form of breast cancer, providing in many cases medium to long term regression or stabilization of the disease. The QOL afforded by Herceptin compared to previously used chemo & the prolonged survival which increases the probability of getting a newer treatment (such as Lapatinib) cannot be ignored.