Herceptin (breast cancer drug) fails in lung trial - Germany

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 13 Jan 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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German researchers say that Herceptin has failed to produce benefits for lung cancer patients.

The drug has extended the lives of many women with breast cancer.

The trial (Phase II) showed that lung cancer patients given chemotherapy plus Herceptin did no better than patients who were just on chemotherapy (100 patients in the trial).

The head of the team, Ulrich Gatzemeier of Krankenhaus Grosshansdorf, Germany, said that the results were a disappointment.

They had expected some benefits because test-tube experiments indicated that Herceptin could be effective in lung cancer patients with a specific gene defect. They found that hardly any (very few) patients had the genetic profile to benefit (patients with non-small cell lung cancer).

The drug, Herceptin (a monoclinal antibody), treats patients whose tumours (USA - tumors) over-express the growth promoting HER-2 gene.

Herceptin belongs to Roche Holding AG (Genetech Inc in the USA). 25% of breast cancer patients benefit from taking herceptin.

(Spelling: UK - Tumour. USA - Tumor)

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