Breast Cancer Patients Live Nearly Six Months Longer With New Precision Drug Compared To Current Treatment Option

Date: Oct-03-2012Data from the Phase III EMILIA study, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) show that T-DM1 (trastuzumab emtansine) prolongs the lives of patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer when compared with the only approved licensed treatment combination, lapatinib and capecitabine, (30.9 months vs. 25.1 months, HR=0.682; P=0.0006), while significantly reducing the side effects of chemotherapy.1 T-DM1 is expected to gain a licence for use in the UK late 2013.

T-DM1 is known as an 'antibody-drug conjugate' (ADC), and is the first medicine of its kind for breast cancer; it incorporates the HER2-targeted antibody, Herceptin, with the chemotherapy agent, DM1 (emtansine) as a single therapy. T-DM1 has been designed to seek out and destroy only the cancerous cells in a two-stage attack.[2] First, it attaches to the HER2 growth receptor (found on the surface of the cell) and blocks signals that encourage the cancer to grow and spread; next, it penetrates the cell's outer defences and releases a payload of chemotherapy to destroy it from within.2 This targeted approach means that healthy cells are preserved, and the unpleasant side effects commonly associated with chemotherapy are substantially reduced.1a

"These results are truly outstanding and will positively alter the outlook and outcomes for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer", said Professor Paul Ellis, Professor of Cancer Medicine at King's College London. "For T-DM1 to offer such a significant survival benefit, while also improving the quality of patients' lives by reducing the side effects of chemotherapy, is a remarkable achievement - particularly as HER2-positive breast cancer is so difficult to treat in its advanced stages."

Patients who received T-DM1 experienced fewer, less severe side effects than those who received lapatinib plus capecitabine:

Fewer patients who received T-DM1 experienced Grade 3 (categorised as 'severe') or higher side effects than those who received lapatinib plus capecitabine (40.8 percent versus 57 percent)1b

The most common Grade 3 or higher side effects associated with T-DM1 in the EMILIA study were low platelet count (12.9 percent versus 0.2 percent), increased levels of enzymes released by the liver and other organs (aspartate aminotransferase: 4.3 percent versus 0.8 percent; alanine aminotransferase: 2.9 percent versus 1.4 percent and anaemia 2.7 percent versus 1.6 percent).1c In most patients these levels had returned to normal by the time of the next dose of T-DM1.

The technique of attaching a chemotherapy agent to an antibody like Herceptin could change the way other breast cancers are treated in future; indeed T-DM1 is already being trialled in the earlier stages of the disease where side effects caused by chemotherapy, like diarrhoea and hair loss, have a significant impact on patients.

View drug information on Herceptin.
Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.