New research shows, high-risk breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, with HER2-positive tumors, benefit from receiving the targeted therapy Herceptin. “The cancers are usually bigger. They may have spread to the lymph nodes in the armpits,” said Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge, La. They’re usually not small enough to be cut out to preserve the breast, which is the reason why Herceptin is so valuable to patients who have locally advanced breast cancer.
When Dr. Brooks sees a patient with advanced breast cancer, to shrink the tumor, he treats them first with chemotherapy, along with trastuzumad (Herceptin). After about six months time, once chemo is done, to remove the tumor with operation is easier. This patient will continue with Herceptin for the next years and then followed by radiation.
Funded by Hoffmann-La Roche, which makes the drug, the new study is one of the largest looking at Herceptin in this context. This study can be found in the Jan. 30 issue of The Lancet. women with both early and metastatic breast cancer live longer, previous research showed that Herceptin and chemotherapy helped.
