The results of the only clinical trial so far to look at the relative impact of administering Roche’s Herceptin (trastuzumab) at the same time as, or following, chemotherapy are a rallying call for doctors to use the breast cancer drug concurrently, says the lead researcher for the US study.

The N9831 trial, presented at the 32nd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in the US, found that breast cancer patients using Herceptin and chemotherapy at the same time had a relative 25% reduction in the risk of recurrence of cancer or death, compared with women who were given Herceptin after chemotherapy…

This was the outcome highlighted by Roche, along with the finding that at least 80% of patients receiving one year of Herceptin were still alive and disease-free at five years of follow-up. It was not the angle, though, taken by lead investigator Dr Edith Perez, chair of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) Breast Committee and a breast cancer researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, US.

PharmaTimes, by Peter Mansell, 12/17/09

Tags: Breast Cancer, Cancer, chemo, Herceptin