Tag: Breast Cancer

BCIRG OO6 – Adjuvant TCH for Breast Cancer presented at the SABCS 2009 by Slamon, D et al. is ready for review.

In summary, here are the findings:

The authors concluded that the addition of trastuzumab to either an anthracycline or non-anthracycline based chemotherapy regimens provides similar and significant benefit both in terms of disease free survival and overall survival and this benefit is seen in both low and high risk patients .

To view the entire Synopsis and Clinical Relevance, log on to https://www.chemoforme.com – if aren’t registered yet; the subscription is free.

Timing of Trastuzumab administration when given along with chemotherapy in an adjuvant setting, is gaining more clarity. Updated information presented at the 2009 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium suggests that, as was administered in group C of the N9831 trial, Trastuzumab started concurrently with taxane resulted in a better outcome, with improvement in Disease Free Survival compared to sequentially administering Trastuzumab following completion of taxane chemotherapy. This should clearly be more appealing to patients, as the duration of adjuvant parenteral therapy would be shortened by approximately 3 months in addition to the decrease in the risk of disease recurrence.

An updated analysis of the phase III EGF 104900 trial demonstrated some interesting findings. Combining Trastuzumab with Lapatinib – dual HER blockade, in patients with metastatic breast cancer who had progressed on anthracyclines, taxanes and trastuzumab, improved overall survival without significant adverse events. This is in spite of a 50% cross over from the control group to the dual HER blockade group. This may be a telling tale of how individuals with advanced metastatic breast cancer can benefit with targeted therapy.

Should we be in a hurry to abandon anthracyclines due to cardiotoxicity concerns? Think again. Weigh the risk benefits. More to come.