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Immunotoxins: The Next Generation

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New Cancer-Related Mutations Found in Breast & Colon Cancers

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Panitumumab approved for metastatic colorectal carcinoma

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Reviews & Reports

Trastuzumab Indications Now Include Adjuvant Use

Reviewed by Nicholas J. Vogelzang, MD

In mid-November 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration expanded the use of trastuzumab, which has been used for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, to include women with early-stage breast cancer who have undergone surgery. Specifically, the new indication calls for trastuzumab, as part of a regimen containing doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel, to be used for the adjuvant treatment of patients with HER2-overexpressing, node-positive breast cancer.

Trastuzumab has been on the market since 1998 as a treatment for the 25% to 30% of breast cancer patients who have HER-2-positive tumors and whose cancer has spread beyond the breast. The studies have shown that 87% of women treated with trastuzumab chemotherapy were disease-free after 3.5 years, compared with 71% of women treated with chemotherapy alone, according to the manufacturer’s product web site (www.herceptin.com).

The most serious side effect associated with trastuzumab is congestive heart failure, which has been found to occur 3% to 4% more often in patients treated with trastuzumab than in those treated with chemotherapy alone. Trastuzumab is produced by Genentech, Inc, under the trade name Herceptin.