Herceptin (Trastuzumab) News and Research

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Herceptin (Trastuzumab) is a monoclonal antibody that binds to HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2), and can kill HER2-positive cancer cells. Monoclonal antibodies are made in the laboratory and can locate and bind to substances in the body, including cancer cells. Herceptin is used to treat breast cancer that is HER2-positive and has spread after treatment with other drugs. It is also used with other anticancer drugs to treat HER2-positive breast cancer after surgery. Herceptin is also being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer.

Dramatic difference between breast cancers in US and Africa

A study comparing, for the first time, breast cancers from Nigeria, Senegal and North America has found that women of African ancestry are more likely to be diagnosed with a more virulent form of the disease than women of European ancestry.

19 Apr 2005

Herceptin - more powerful treatment for patients with HER-2-positive breast cancer

A new use of the drug Herceptin appears to offer a much more powerful treatment advantage than expected for patients with HER-2-positive breast cancer, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

29 Mar 2005

New guidelines mean tailor-made drugs are on the way

Many experts believe a milestone has been reached with the issuing of guidelines for pharmaceutical companies to encourage them to gather and submit information about how genetic variations affect the way people respond to their drugs.

23 Mar 2005

Monoclonal antibody therapeutics to fill vacuum left by ineffective conventional therapies

Currently, the limited efficacy of conventional therapies, especially in the case of several oncology and autoimmune and inflammatory disorders (AIID), is creating the need for safe and effective treatment alternatives.

25 Jan 2005

Novel vaccine that uses immune cells as factories to produce Her2/neu protein may offer a way to treat some breast cancers

Based on successful animal studies, a novel vaccine that uses immune cells as factories to produce Her2/neu protein may offer a way to treat some human breast cancers, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

10 Jan 2005

Why the Mediterranean diet appers to protect against breast cancer

U.S. researchers have uncovered reasons why the Mediterranean diet, with its high intake of oleic acid-rich olive oil, seems to protect against breast cancer. They have also found evidence that oleic acid may have a future role in treatment. The findings are reported (Monday 10 January) in Annals of Oncology.

9 Jan 2005

One in five people in the developed world will die of the diseases we call cancer

What they die of is not one disease, but a bewildering array of cancers, each of which behaves differently, grows differently and - crucially - responds to treatment differently.

29 Sep 2004

HER-2 cell surface receptors tun on genes associated with carcinogenesis

Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center now have evidence that receptors found on tumors that were believed to function only on the surface of cells can actually switch on genes inside a cell's nucleus, thus promoting cancer development in two distinct ways.

21 Sep 2004

Powerful new cancer-fighting property of Herceptin

For many patients with advanced breast cancer, the cancer drug Herceptin (trastuzumab) has offered new hope when traditional cancer drugs failed to work, shrinking tumors and sending some patients into remission.

23 Aug 2004

Genentech announces FDA approval of Avastin manufacturing

Genentech has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for the manufacturing of Avastin™ (bevacizumab) bulk drug substance at the company's facility in Vacaville, California.

11 Aug 2004

Strategic analysis of the breast cancer therapeutics pipeline

Strategic partnerships between the pharmaceuticals industry and the biotechnology sector are making breast cancer therapeutics one of the most dynamic segments in the overall oncology market.

15 Jul 2004

Chemotherapy agents as well as the newest biologic and targeted cancer therapy drugs, can harm a patient’s heart

Cancer treatments, including the most commonly used chemotherapy agents as well as the newest biologic and targeted therapy drugs, can harm a patient’s heart, sometimes fatally

29 Jun 2004

European Commission has approved the use of Herceptin® (trastuzumab) in combination with Taxotere®

The approval is based on study results which showed that for women with HER2-positive breast cancer, the combination of Herceptin and Taxotere significantly improved median life expectancy by more than one-third (31 months with Herceptin plus Taxotere vs. 22 months for Taxotere alone).

23 Jun 2004

Report shows unacceptably high variations in access to cancer drugs across the UK

Cancer information charity CancerBACUP welcomes today’s report into variations of usage of cancer drugs (postcode prescribing) issued by the Department of Health but says the vital issue of accountability and enforcement has been left unresolved, leaving patients still vulnerable to postcode prescribing.

15 Jun 2004

Blood test that can detect amplification of a certain gene found in cells associated with breast cancer

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have developed a blood test that can detect amplification of a certain gene found in circulating cells associated with breast cancer.

10 Jun 2004

New blood test may help detect breast cancer

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have developed a blood test that can detect amplification of a certain gene found in circulating cells associated with breast cancer.

9 Jun 2004

Herceptin shows real promise in treatment of HER-2 positive breast disease

According to a study conducted at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, more than twice as many women with early stage, HER-2 positive breast disease who received Herceptin as part of their pre-surgery chemotherapy had their tumors completely disappear compared to like patients who received only chemotherapy.

7 Jun 2004

Drug Tarceva improves survival chance for patients with advanced lung cancer

Roche OSI Pharmaceuticals and Genentech today announced that their investigational drug Tarceva(TM) (erlotinib) achieved a significant 42.5% improvement in median survival compared to placebo in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

5 Jun 2004

Tumour suppressor gene family may be key to new colon cancer drugs

In the hunt for new cancer drug targets, scientists from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have discovered mutations in a family of genes linked to more than a quarter of colon cancers, as well as several other common cancers including breast and lung.

20 May 2004

Drug combo effective for advanced breast cancer

A pair of studies at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center that takes laboratory science to the patients' bedside found that combining the molecularly targeted therapy Herceptin with a specific chemotherapy combination resulted in significant tumor response rates and longer relapse-free periods in women with an aggressive form of advanced breast cancer.

19 May 2004