News tagged with herceptin
Studies help clarify the role of lapatinib and trastuzumab in treating HER2 positive breast cancer
In patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, Tykerb (lapatinib) has been used both in combination with herceptin (trastuzumab) and as an alternative single-agent therapy for pre-surgery (neo-adjuvant) chemotherapy treatment. ...
Jan 16, 2012 |
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Proteins do not predict outcome of herceptin treatment in HER2-positive breast cancer
Precisely quantifying the amount of three different HER growth proteins, along with several other proteins believed linked to breast cancer, did not predict a patient's outcome after treatment for HER2-Positive Breast Cancer ...
Dec 09, 2011 |
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First genome sequencing clinical trial for triple negative cancer points to new treatments
Initial results from an ongoing clinical trial, the first designed to examine the utility of whole-genome sequencing for triple negative breast cancer, were reported today during the CRTC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Dec 08, 2011 |
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Importance of echocardiography to evaluate cardio toxicity in cancer patients
One study presented at the meeting, which is being held in Budapest, Hungary, 7 to 10 December, reports on an initiative using echocardiography to document early warning signs of adverse effects from trastuzumab (Herceptin)¹, ...
Medicine & Health / Cardiology
Dec 07, 2011 |
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Survival increased in early stage breast cancer after treatment with herceptin and chemo
Treating women with early stage breast cancer with a combination of chemotherapy and the molecularly targeted drug Herceptin significantly increases survival in patients with a specific genetic mutation that results in very ...
Oct 05, 2011 |
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Trastuzumab raises risk of heart problems in the elderly with history of heart disease or diabetes
(Medical Xpress) -- The first study to investigate the effect of the breast cancer drug trastuzumab (Herceptin) on heart and vascular function in elderly patients has found that it increases the risk of heart problems, particularly ...
Aug 10, 2011 |
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New therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer developed
Patients with HER2-positive breast cancer may soon have an alternative therapy when they develop resistance to trastuzumab, also known as Herceptin, according to a laboratory finding published in Clinical Cancer Research.
Jul 26, 2011 |
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Targeted agent addition to herceptin has positive effect on metastatic HER-2 breast cancer
Adding Afinitor to Herceptin, the main treatment for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, helps some women with disease that has been resistant to previous Herceptin-based therapies, according to a study led by researchers ...
Jul 08, 2011 |
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Breast cancer: A new treatment avenue identified
Canadian researchers at the CHUM Research Centre (CRCHUM) and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Australia have identified a new avenue for treating breast cancer.
May 17, 2011 |
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Combination overcomes breast cancer resistance to herceptin
Breast cancer tumors take numerous paths to resist the targeted drug Herceptin, but a single roadblock at a crucial crossroads may restore a tumor's vulnerability to treatment, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson ...
Mar 13, 2011 |
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Scientists discover first breast cancer 'oncogene' in five years
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have pinpointed a key cancer-causing gene that, when overactive, triggers a particularly aggressive type of breast cancer to develop.
Feb 18, 2011 |
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Researchers identify potential target for breast cancer therapy
(PhysOrg.com) -- Overexpression or hyperactivation of ErbB cell-surface receptors drives the growth of many breast cancers. Drugs, like Herceptin, that block the receptors’ signals halt tumor progression ...
Dec 22, 2010 |
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Expert analysis of HER2 tests reveals issues with reliability, researchers say
Results for testing breast tumors for HER2 proteins and genes is most often straightforward when one piece of tumor (a single tumor block) is analyzed. However, tumors can be diverse, and researchers at Mayo Clinic found ...
Dec 12, 2010 |
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Drug combo helps women with early breast cancer
(AP) -- A new study finds that using two drugs, Herceptin (her-SEPT-in) and Tykerb (TIE-curb), more than doubles the number of women with early breast cancer whose tumors disappear before they are scheduled to have surgery ...
Dec 10, 2010 |
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The most aggressive forms of breast cancer elude cellular control mechanisms in order to expand
Spanish scientists at IRB Barcelona have provided new data on how certain types of aggressive breast cancer bypass tumor suppression mechanisms.
Nov 24, 2010 |
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Trastuzumab
Trastuzumab (Herceptin) is a monoclonal antibody that interferes with the HER2/neu receptor.
The HER receptors are proteins that are embedded in the cell membrane and communicate molecular signals from outside the cell to inside the cell, and turn genes on and off. The HER proteins regulate cell growth, survival, adhesion, migration, and differentiation—functions that are amplified or weakened in cancer cells. In some cancers, notably some breast cancers, the HER2 receptor is defective and stuck in the "on" position, and causes breast cells to reproduce uncontrollably, causing breast cancer.
Antibodies are molecules from the immune system that bind selectively to different proteins. Trastuzumab is an antibody that binds selectively to the HER2 protein. When it binds to defective HER2 proteins, the HER2 protein no longer causes cells in the breast to reproduce uncontrollably. This increases the survival of people with cancer. However, cancers usually develop resistance to trastuzumab.
The original studies of trastuzumab showed that it improved survival in late-stage (metastatic) breast cancer, but there is controversy over whether trastuzumab is effective in earlier stage breast cancer.[citation needed] Trastuzumab is also controversial because of its cost, as much as $100,000 per year[citation needed], and while certain private insurance companies in the U.S. and government health care systems in Canada, the U.K. and elsewhere have refused to pay for trastuzumab for certain patients, some companies have since accepted trastuzumab treatment as a covered preventative treatment.
Trastuzumab was originally developed in mice, as a mouse antibody. Because humans have immune reactions to mouse proteins, it was later developed into a human (humanized) antibody. Because the antibodies were produced from one cell that was grown into a clone of identical cells, it is called a monoclonal antibody.
Trastuzumab is also being studied for use with other cancers. It has been used with some success in women with uterine papillary serous carcinomas that overexpress HER2/neu.
For more information about Trastuzumab, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
