Drug reduces breast cancer tumours after six weeks
Scientists described the breast cancer drug research as "exciting"
Friday, 18, Apr 2008 02:36
A new drug could reduce breast cancer tumours after just six weeks, according to new research.
Scientists at the Baylor College of Medicine in the United States say the drug lapatinib could decrease tumour-causing breast cancer stem cells in the primary breast cancers of women receiving treatment before surgery for the disease.
They studied 45 patients with locally advanced breast cancer in which the gene HER-2 was over-expressed.
Participants received the drug for six weeks followed by a combination of weekly trastuzumab and three-weekly docetaxel, given over 12 weeks, before primary surgery.
Tumours were evaluated at the time of diagnosis and after six weeks of lapatinib.
The researchers say they saw "significant tumour regression" after treatment with the drug, with measurements showing a median decrease of 60.8 per cent.
"This is an exciting finding, and we will be starting further studies on stem cells in order to confirm it," said researcher Dr Angel Rodriguez.
"We will also look into its applicability in testing novel agents targeting tumour-initiating cells. This finding should also apply to other types of cancers and research of tumour-initiating stem cells in other cancers is ongoing."
Commenting on the research, Breast Cancer Care's clinical nurse specialist Carolyn Rogers said it is an "interesting insight into how lapatinib could be used in early breast cancer".
"However, with a sample of just 45 patients it is clear that much more work needs to be done to gain statistically significant findings. Further trials are underway, but it will be many years before we see the full results of these," she added.
"Current approved treatment options are very successful, with survival rates increasing year on year. There is an increasing development in new, targeted therapies and as the efficacy of these treatments is proven, we may well see interesting advances in the way breast cancer is treated."