According to the latest research breast cancer wonder drug Herceptin puts some women at risk of heart problems.
In a new study researchers in the U.S. have found that Herceptin could cause harm to women with advanced breast cancer.
According to the American researchers, 28 per cent of patients who used the drug for at least a year suffered cardiac problems but they believe that risk is an "acceptable" one as the majority of heart damage could be reversed with treatment.
Herceptin, which is also known as trastuzumab, works by targeting the HER2 protein, which can fuel growth of breast tumours in women with HER2 positive breast cancer, which accounts for about 25 per cent of all breast cancer cases.
The drug has radically changed the prognosis for women with this type of breast cancer, especially when used in combination with chemotherapy and is now standard therapy for those with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.
It was already known that the drug weakened the heart muscle and is therefore not recommended for those with heart trouble and drug rationing bodies, gave that advice when granting approval for the drug.
The drug should not apparently be given to those at risk of heart failure and patients should undergo regular assessments.
In the UK the drug is licensed both early and advanced breast cancer and costs £21,000 for a years course.
Earlier clinical trials that tested Herceptin in combination with chemotherapy found that between 10 and 26 per cent of patients experienced cardiac problems and the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. last year warned that Herceptin could cause congestive heart failure, leading to an inability to pump enough blood throughout the body.
In this latest study of 173 patients, 28 per cent of those treated with Herceptin were found to have experienced a "cardiac event" after a follow-up at 32 months.
The majority of these patients experienced the problems while being treated with Herceptin alone, after prior combined Herceptin and chemotherapy treatment.
The other 18 were being treated with a combination of Herceptin and chemotherapy. There was one cardiac-related death.
The study found that when patients stopped using Herceptin and were treated with heart drugs such as beta-blockers, their heart function improved and after the damage was repaired they were able to resume Herceptin treatment.
Dr. Francisco Esteva, senior author of the paper and an associate professor of medicine at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, says Herceptin substantially prolongs survival, and while there was substantial cardiac toxicity, the side effect can be successfully treated.