From the NEJM-Will Kinase Inhibitors like Lapatinib Have a Dark Side?

[RobinP]

Steph,

Thanks for your input. I must say I was rather surprised when I read this rather unusual and somewhat alarming article in the prestigious New Eng. Journal of Medicine. At first, I wondered if the claims in the article were legitimate. However, then I realized that Harvard medical school had a study on the same topic which I posted above.

Still I am very skeptical that targeted drugs are a bad thing. For example, Herceptin has clinical trial results of success with increased disease free survival, particularly when there is a real lingering occult metastasis in early stage disease or when there is a real metastasis presentation of the her2+ bc. On the other hand, after reading this article, I do worry about her2+ bc that truly hasn't spread in early breast cancer and wonder if, as the article suggests, targeted therapies may actually in rare cases spread the her2 bc via of obliteration of the PROTECTIVE Akt1 pathway in such cases where the her2 bc has not spread but is still present in the primary site. I certainly hope not. However, this is definitely an area of research that needs more clarification and study.