Breast Cancer Treatment Trastuzumab Increases Survival By Third

A recent breakthrough by Finnish researches has led to a new breast cancer treatment. The treatment targets the common HER2 type of breast cancer and cuts deaths by as much as a third. The new treatment is called trastuzumab.

Breast cancer affects as many as 1 in 8 women a year. In Finland alone, approximately 4,100 women are diagnosed with the disease every ear. It is a varied disease that takes many shapes and forms. As such, there is no one prescribed medicine or treatment.

The treatment was first reported on January 28, 2010. The study was conducted at the Department of Medical Oncology in the Helsinki University Hospital in Helsinki. Finnish scientists focused their efforts on the HER2 protein.

HER2 is a protein that promotes the growth of cancer cells. Women who contract the HER2 type of breast cancer usually face a hard path as the cancer is very aggressive and difficult to treat. HER2 cancers have the tendency to spread to other parts of the body. 15 percent of women contract this form of cancer.

Usually, in these cases, the cancerous tumor is removed, and then cytostatic treatment (an intravenous treatment) follows if risk of remission is strong. Trastuzumab, the latest Finnish treatment advance, blocks the HER2 protein by binding to it.

The results showed that five years after treatment and contraction of the cancer over 90 percent of the women treated were still alive without re-emergence of the cancer.

Trastuzumab also known under the brand name Herceptin, has been used in four mass clinical trials encompassing over 10,000 women. In each trial, the women received chemotherapy along with Herceptin and had a 52 percent lower risk of the cancer returning. On the other hand, those with solely chemo treatment had a 46 percent chance of re-emergence
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Although the success rate of trastuzumab is high, women who are treated with it risk certain heart problems and sometimes even serious infusion reactions that can be fatal.

Breast cancer remains a serious and common disease. The advances in science and research have led to a better understanding of the disease, and, moreover, new promising treatments. A lot more research and funding is needed to find a cure, however.

Written by Lani Shadduck
HULIQ.com