Targeted breast cancer treatment prolongs life and reduces side effects! Posted on June 5, 2012February 25, 2018 by Carly du Toit A new treatment is being heralded as a ‘smart-bomb’ for breast cancer following very promising studies in a Phase III clinical trial based in the US. Researchers at the Duke Cancer Institutes administered a new drug ‘T-DM1’ to almost 1000 women with the specific breast cancer type ‘HER-2 positive’, and found it prevented patients’ advanced tumours from progressing while delivering fewer side effects compared to conventional treatments. “As a clinician who takes care of breast cancer patients, it’s important to have a treatment that is both effective and well tolerated,” said director of the Breast Cancer Clinical Program at the Duke Cancer Institute, Kimberley Blackwell. “This is a drug that brings us another step closer to treating cancer without the side effects of chemotherapy.” HER-2 breast cancer is distinguished by high levels of a protein known as ‘human epidermal growth factor’ which promotes cancer cell growth. It accounts for about 20% of invasive breast cancers. Continue reading “Targeted breast cancer treatment prolongs life and reduces side effects!”
Breast cancer study set to revolutionise diagnosis and treatment for patients Posted on April 19, 2012February 25, 2018 by Carly du Toit Researchers from the UK have “re-written the rulebook” * on breast cancer research with what is being called a ‘landmark’ study. They have reclassified the disease into ten categories, where formerly it was understood there were four, based on the genetic fingerprints of breast cancer tumours from 2,000 women in the UK and Canada. The implications of this study are significant: Women with breast cancer can now be identified as having a more specific disease – one of ten under the breast cancer “umbrella” – and their prognosis, and subsequent treatment options will be better defined as a result. Continue reading “Breast cancer study set to revolutionise diagnosis and treatment for patients”
