Approximately 25% of female cancers are located in the breast. Some breast tumors, referred to as HER2-positive, overexpress the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, a protein that promotes growth and survival of cells. These tumors are known to grow and spread more quickly than other types of tumors and treatment options are limited. Current treatment options consist in Trastuzumab (Herceptin) alone or in combination with hormone-blocking medications, or Lapatinib (Tykerb) in combination with the chemotherapy drug capecitabine (Xeloda) and the aromatase inhibitor letrozole (Femara) if patients did not respond to trastuzumab.
A Phase IIIb multicentric open label single arm trial sponsored by Roche is currently conducted worlwide.. The treatment investigated is Trastuzumab emtansine (TDM1), a novel antibody–drug conjugate consisting in herceptin combined with DM1, a maytansine derivative. The combination of the two drugs has already demonstrated clinical activity in Phase I and II trials with increased progression-free survival and better safety profile than Trastuzumab and taxane combination.
The CHL Hospital is one of the participating sites, with the ability to offer a novel therapeutic alternative for the treatment of aggressive HER2-positive breast cancer. Additional information on this trial is available on our website www.luxclin.lu/Studies/Details/?c=STP0728FTX .
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