What has led to the interest in Herceptin for early stage Breast Cancer?
In May 2005 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco) conference in Florida the results of the Herceptin Adjuvant trial (Hera), a major international study on the use of Herceptin in early stage breast cancer, were announced. The trial data reported was that Herceptin could reduce the risk of recurrence in suitable patients by as much as 52%. In October 2005, The New England Journal of Medicine sparked a huge reaction when it published studies which showed that adding Herceptin to standard cancer therapy reduced the recurrence rate of certain breast cancers. The first study, by the Breast Cancer Group of international researchers and sponsored by Roche, looked at the effect of giving Herceptin to breast cancer patients who had already had surgery and a course of chemotherapy. Almost 1,700 women received one year’s treatment with Herceptin and a group of equal size were simply observed. After 12 months, 13% (220) of the group under observation had seen a recurrence of their ca
