6 X 12 months of Trastuzumab

A research led by the University of Cambridge and Warwick Clinical Trials studied patients in the early stage of HER2 positive breast cancer when there is the HER2 protein, which influences the multiplication and division of cancer cells.

About 4,000 women were tested in this profile to see if treatment with Trastuzumab for six months would be as effective as the 12-month treatment.

Results

According to the data collected, 89.4% of the patients who underwent treatment for 6 months were free of the disease after 4 years, compared to 89.9% of patients who underwent treatment for 12 months. This demonstrates that treatment in the shortest time is as effective as the longer treatment.

In addition, only 4% of women (within 6 months) stopped receiving treatment early because of heart problems, compared to 8% in 12-month treatment.

Patients also underwent chemotherapy during the testing period.

Conclusions

From years of study, it was possible to observe that even with a treatment with a shorter period of time, efficacy remained stable. There was also a decrease in side effects in patients.

In addition to these benefits, the use of the drug for 6 months means a very large resource saving compared to traditional treatment.

According to Professor Charles Swanton, clinical head of UK Cancer Reasearch, this study is of utmost importance to the field of breast cancer research. However, despite years of research, it was not possible to define an exact duration of treatment with Herceptin; how to prevent the cancer from returning, or how to cure patients with HER2 Positive breast cancer at an early stage after surgery. Therefore, it is necessary that research continues.

Study X Reality

Dr. Gilberto Amorim, Oncologist at Rede D'or and scientific adviser at Laço Rosa stressed the importance of this research, since other studies have failed to prove that a minor treatment would have the same efficacy as the standard method.

However, when we look at practice / reality, especially in Brazil, there are some caveats. In Brazil, more advanced, larger tumors are frequent and, in the study, patients with this profile consisted of only 5%.

In addition, there are other characteristics and aspects that influence the choice of treatment, from 6 months to 12 months. Finally, chemotherapy sessions were performed with Trastuzumab and this is not the case in most centers, according to Dr. Gilberto.

To watch the complete video of Dr. Gilberto Amorim, click here.

Source: National Institute for Health Research