The Swiss laboratory Roche has just completed phase III of its clinical trials on a new drug against an aggressive form of breast cancer.
And the results are “phenomenal” and “unprecedented” according to specialists of the international scientific study: the patients treated saw their life expectancy increase by 16 months compared to the control group, following conventional therapy.
The study focused on the breast cancer caused by the HER2 protein, over-expressed in 20 to 30% of women. Located on the surface of cancer cells, and produced in excess by them, HER2 proteins increase the aggressiveness of the tumor, and leads to more metastases (cancer cells migrating all over the body), which makes cancer more difficult to treat. Said to be HER2 positive, this type of cancer currently accounts for 15 to 20% of breast cancers in women.
To test their drug, the researchers called on 808 women with HER2 positive breast cancer, which they separated into two groups. The first so-called control group was treated with the usual therapy, comprising the drug Herceptin (also marketed by Roche) and a chemotherapy.
The second group received the same type of treatment, coupled with taking the drug Perjeta to be tested.
The results then revealed that the women of the second group survived 56.5 months, compared to 40.8 months on average for the women of the first group, treated with the usual procedure.
The new drug Perjeta would therefore increase the life expectancy of patients with this aggressive breast cancer by an average of 15.7 months.
Both Herceptin and Perjeta work by blocking certain functions of the HER2 protein, and report the same side effects (rash, diarrhea and risk of cardiovascular disease).
Be that as it may, “the increase in life expectancy of nearly 16 months observed here is unprecedented among studies of metastatic breast cancer” enthuses Dr. Sandra Swain of the Medstar Washington Hospital Center. (United States), and lead author of the study. “This data will be incredibly meaningful for patients and their families. “
The results of this study called “CLEOPATRA” were presented at the annual congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) this Sunday, September 27, 2014 in Madrid.
