LONDON (AP) - A combination of two new-generation cancer drugs modestly
delayed the time it took for cancer to worsen in a study of 300 women with very
advanced disease who had stopped responding to other treatments.
It was the first test of these two highly targeted drugs, Herceptin and
Tykerb. Both aim at a protein called HER-2/neu that is made in abnormally large
quantities in about one-fourth of all breast cancers. Herceptin blocks the
protein on the cell's surface; Tykerb does it inside the cell.
In the study, women getting the combo survived 12 weeks without their cancer
worsening compared to eight weeks for those receiving Tykerb alone.
"Really blocking that pathway is an effective strategy. This gives us a new
treatment option for patients," said Dr. Joyce O'Shaughnessy of Baylor-Sammons
Cancer Center in Dallas.
She led the study and has consulted in the past for its sponsor,
British-based GlaxoSmithKline PLC, which makes Tykerb. California-based
Genentech and Swiss-based Roche Holding AG market Herceptin.
Side effects were more common with the combo _ 5 percent had a modest
decrease in pumping power of the main chamber of the heart compared to 2 percent
of those taking only Tykerb. That side effect also has been seen with Herceptin.
Liver problems also have been tied to Tykerb, which is currently approved to
be used in combination with the chemo drug Xeloda for breast cancer patients who
have failed treatment with Herceptin and other drugs.
Results of the study were released Thursday by the American Society of
Clinical Oncology and will be presented at the group's annual meeting later this
month.
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