Herceptin After Chemo Reduces Recurrence

Herceptin After Chemotherapy Reduces Recurrence in Women with Early-Stage, HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

HERA Study Team, San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, December 8, 2005, Abstract 11

Is this for me? If your doctor has told you that you have early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer and will need chemotherapy after surgery, you might want to read this article.

Background and importance of the study:Herceptin (chemical name: trastuzumab) is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat women with metastatic (advanced) HER2-positive breast cancer. Herceptin has a solid track record in helping women with advanced disease. So researchers are interested in exploring the possible benefits of Herceptin for women with early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer.

The first reports of using Herceptin to treat women with early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer were presented at both the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting and the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in 2005. The HERA Trial (Herceptin Adjuvant Trial) is one of these key studies that breastcancer.org has reported on, showing that The HERA (Herceptin Adjuvant) Trial has shown that Herceptin plus chemotherapy was able to reduce the risk of recurrence (the cancer coming back) by about 50%. Here is our summary of this important study.

Take-home message: After about a year of follow-up, the researchers found that women taking Herceptin every three weeks had a 46% reduction in recurrence compared to women who did not get any Herceptin. These results were statistically significant, meaning they were probably due to Herceptin and not just to chance. Compared to chemotherapy alone, Herceptin AFTER chemotherapy lowers the risk of the cancer coming back for women with early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer after surgery.

These early results on Herceptin are quite positive, especially when combined with the results of other studies on Herceptin presented in San Antonio.

The FDA is reviewing the results of the three studies, carefully weighing the benefits of Herceptin against the side effects in deciding whether to approve Herceptin for women with early-stage breast cancer.

Finding an effective treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer is especially important because this kind of cancer tends to be more aggressive than HER2-negative disease. Still, while the results on Herceptin are very positive and encouraging, it's important to keep in mind that these are early results. The researchers plan to follow the women for much longer to look at their long-term survival and risk of recurrence. Learn more about the HERA Trial here.

Remember that every woman reacts differently to treatment. It's very important to find the right combination that you're comfortable with and that works best for YOU.

The February 2006 Research News section was made possible by an unrestricted educational grant from Genentech BioOncology.