The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has listed two breakthroughs in breast cancer research among the top 17 cancer advances for 2012.
The results come in the Society’s annual report highlighting major research advances in cancer treatment and care this year.
The two breast cancer breakthroughs for 2012 are:
• The new T-DM1 drug, which uses the targeted medicine, Herceptin® (trastuzumab) to deliver a chemotherapy agent (DM1) directly to breast cancer cells. Trial results show that the two year survival rate for women with HER2-Positive metastatic breast cancer improved from 47 per cent to 65 per cent.
• Combining Herceptin® (trastuzumab), the chemotherapy agent Taxotere® (docetaxel) with a new targeted drug PerjetaTM (pertuzumab) can help to overcome resistance to Herceptin therapy in patients with HER2-Positive breast cancer. PerjetaTM targets a different part of the HER2 receptor to Herceptin® and a phase III trial showed that women receiving PerjetaTM, plus Herceptin and Taxotere® had 38 per cent reduction in the risk of their disease worsening or death compared with those receiving Herceptin® and Taxotere® alone.
ASCO notes that the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already approved the use of PerjetaTM and has earmarked T-DM1 for priority review, likely in February 2013.
BCAC chair Libby Burgess welcomes the advances that have been made in 2012.
“Breast cancer research is certainly moving quickly and there are some exciting developments on the horizon, particularly around targeted medicines.
“It’s crucial that we in New Zealand remain up-to-speed with these advances so that we can work to ensure New Zealand women with breast cancer get these medicines as soon as their efficacy is proven in the clinical trial phase and they are on the market. This will depend on timely registration by New Zealand’s Medsafe and early provision of funding by PHARMAC.
“We’ll see more and more of these ‘smart’ drugs that will have a big impact in reducing cancer recurrence and improving survival for selected patients. It’s vital that these new medicines are made available in New Zealand in a timely fashion, otherwise our breast cancer death rates will remain higher than those in other countries.”
For more information on the ASCO report and to read about other cancer advances, see their website looking at cancer research advances.
