The HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) gene is part of a family of genes that play roles in regulating cell growth. The protein it makes is a tyrosine kinase growth factor receptor that a number of normal tissues express and which probably has a role in normal cell function, regulating growth and proliferation.
Clinical studies show that new drugs that target malignant cells of HER2-positive breast cancer, such as Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab Emtansine (T-DM1), increase life expectancy in patients with advanced breast cancer.
Promising clinical trial results presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting 2015 show activity of the investigational anti-cancer agent ONT-380 against HER2+ breast cancer, in one case specifically against brain metastases and in another case in overall survival of heavily pretreated HER2+ breast cancer patients.
Maxing out the inherently stressed nature of treatment-resistant breast cancer cells thwarts their adaptive ability to evolve genetic workarounds to treatment, a new study suggests.
Herceptin has been touted as a wonder drug for women with HER2-positive breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease that is fueled by excess production of the HER2 protein. However, not all of these patients respond to the drug, and many who do respond eventually acquire resistance.
Head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) ranks among the top ten most prevalent cancers in the United States. Despite its prevalence, little is known about how this cancer develops and spreads. However, in a paper published in the January 29, 2015 edition of Nature, researchers offer critical new information about head and neck cancers.
VCU Massey Cancer Center physician-researcher Charles E. Geyer, Jr., M.D., was the National Protocol Officer for one component of a large national study involving two National Cancer Institute-supported clinical trials that demonstrated that trastuzumab significantly improves the long-term survival of HER-2 positive breast cancer patients.
Investigators with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network have identified new potential therapeutic targets for a major form of bladder cancer, including important genes and pathways that are disrupted in the disease.
Australian researchers have identified a potentially treatable subtype of pancreatic cancer, which accounts for about 2% of new cases. This subtype expresses high levels of the HER2 gene. HER2-amplified breast and gastric cancers are currently treated with Herceptin.
A drug approved in Europe to treat osteoporosis has now been shown to stop the growth of breast cancer cells, even in cancers that have become resistant to current targeted therapies, according to a Duke Cancer Institute study.
Biocept, Inc., a privately-held, CLIA certified laboratory testing company focused on detection and analysis of circulating tumor cells and circulating tumor DNA in cancer patients, reported the publication in the journal Cancer Medicine of a paper entitled "Discordance in HER2 gene amplification in circulating and disseminated tumor cells in patients with operable breast cancer" on research performed with collaborators from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a gene that, when repressed in tumor cells, puts a halt to cell growth and a range of processes needed for tumors to enlarge and spread to distant sites. The researchers hope that this so-called "master regulator" gene may be the key to developing a new treatment for tumors resistant to current drugs.
New results from a retrospective study conducted in Europe suggest that anti-HER2 treatments, like the widely used breast cancer agent trastuzumab (Herceptin), have anti-cancer effects in a small subset of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring specific HER2 protein mutations.
Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a type of cancer that has none of the three markers that are currently used for targeted chemotherapy. These markers are estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and HER2.
Results from the PrefHer (Patient Preference for Subcutaneous (SC) versus Intravenous (IV) Herceptin) trial show that 92% of early HER2-positive breast cancer patients favoured quicker SC administration of Herceptin compared to the standard IV infusion.1 Presented at the St. Gallen Breast Cancer Conference in Switzerland.
Research led by Dr. Suresh Alahari, the Fred Brazda Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans and its Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, details exactly how the Her2 cancer gene promotes the progression and spread of breast cancer cells.
Thomas Jefferson University will honor the renowned biotech researcher whose discoveries led to a slew of innovative drugs that revolutionized treatment including Herceptin-one of the first gene-based medications for breast cancer-with its prestigious Lennox K. Black International Prize for Excellence in Biomedical Research.
Breast cancer recurrence is a major problem after treatment of localized breast cancer. The risk of recurrence depends on several factors including the stage of presentation and the biology of the disease.
Approximately 20% of all breast cancer patients have overexpression of HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2), resulting in a more aggressive phenotype, and a poor prognosis.
It’s nearly a decade since the completion of the Human Genome Project, (1) which aimed to sequence the complete human genome.
Because cases of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) are so genetically different, whole-genome sequencing is needed to detect the subtle molecular differences that might point to specific treatments for individual patients.