COMBINING the drug, Herceptin, with hormonal therapy can slow the progress of breast cancer by more than half, a report has revealed.The findings have prompted a call for the treatment to be made available for even more women with breast cancer.
The study found the addition of Herceptin to hormonal therapy kept the cancer under control for a significantly longer time than hormonal therapy alone in patients whose advanced breast cancer was hormone receptor-positive, as well as HER2-positive.
The median progression-free survival was doubled at 4.8 months for patients who received the combination therapy compared with 2.4 months for patients who received hormonal therapy.
Another 15 per cent of high-risk patients treated with the combination therapy remained free from disease progress for at least two years. The results from the study have been presented at a meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology.
Experts said the study demonstrated Herceptin should be considered the essential component in the treatment of all HER2-positive breast cancers.
HER2-positive breast cancer affects up to 30 per cent of women with the complaint. It is an aggressive form of the disease that requires special and immediate attention because the tumours are fast-growing and there is a higher likelihood of relapse.
To date, more than 3000 patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, both early and metastatic, have been treated with Herceptin in Australia.
The drug is available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
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