A DRUG that delivers a powerful poison to tumours without some of the side effects of traditional treatments can delay the worsening of breast cancer and also appears to prolong lives, according to a new study. Besides representing an advance in treating breast cancer, the success in the clinical trial validates an idea that is being pursued by pharmaceutical companies to treat various types of cancer in a way that delivers drugs to cancerous cells while sparing healthy ones. ''We've envisioned a world where cancer treatment would kill the cancer and not hurt the patient,'' said Kimberly Blackwell, professor of medicine at the Duke Cancer Institute and the lead investigator in the trial. ''And this drug does that.'' Advertisement: Story continues below The drug, known as T-DM1, was developed by Genentech. The company plans to file for approval later this year. That could mean the drug will reach the market next year. T-DM1 and similar drugs under development consist of powerful toxins linked to proteins called antibodies. The antibodies latch on to cancer cells and deliver the toxic payload directly into those cells. Since the toxin is not active until it reaches the tumour, side effects are reduced. Such treatments, … Continue reading →

June 3, 2012 in Nation/World Breast cancer treatment stillexperimental Marilynn Marchione Associated Press CHICAGO Doctors have successfully dropped the first smart bomb on breast cancer, using a drug to deliver a toxic payload to tumor cells while leaving healthy onesalone. In a key test involving nearly 1,000 women with very advanced disease, the experimental treatment extended by several months the time women lived without their cancer getting worse, doctors planned to report today at a cancer conference inChicago. More importantly, the treatment seems likely to improve survival; it will take more time to know for sure. After two years, 65 percent of women who received it were still alive versus 47 percent of those in a comparison group given two standard cancerdrugs. That margin fell just short of the very strict criteria researchers set for stopping the study and declaring the new treatment a winner, and they hope the benefit becomes clearer with time. In fact, so many women on the new treatment are still alive that researchers cannot yet determine average survival for thegroup. The absolute difference is greater than one year in how long these people live, said the studys leader, Dr. Kimberly Blackwell of Duke University. This … Continue reading →

By Naomi Kresge and Robert Langreth - 2012-06-03T12:36:19Z An experimental breast cancer drug from Roche Holding AG (ROG) that carries chemotherapy directly into malignant cells while bypassing healthy ones delayed tumors longer and with fewer side effects than an established therapy. The treatment, combining Roches Herceptin with an older chemotherapy medicine, delayed progression of tumors 3.2 months longer than GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK)s Tykerb with chemotherapy in women with advanced disease. The data is being reported today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. More patients on the drug, dubbed T-DM1, were alive after two years, though the difference fell short of statistical significance. Still, the results are the first proof that using an antibody to deliver a toxic dose of chemotherapy into a solid tumor can work, said Kimberly Blackwell, a study author and professor of medicine at Duke University, in an interview. It is fantastic data, said Shanu Modi, a breast cancer oncologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, who was not involved in the current trial. If approved, it is going to be rapidly taken up by the oncology community. For sure, I will be using a lot of it. Roche, based in … Continue reading →