Sergio, saw this on Herceptin in an associated press article. Herceptin is the first in what promises to be a wave of therapies attacking cancer at its genetic roots.
Herceptin is not for every woman with breast cancer. But for the 30% whose especially aggressive tumors are fueled by a bad gene called HER2, adding Herceptin can substantially increase the chances of living a little longer.
Some 50,000 American woman a year could benefit from the drug. Woman whose HER2 positive tumors have spread to other organs and who until now have had little hope. They can add it to the drug Taxol as first line therapy, or use it alone after failing standard chemotherapies.
To make sure the right patients try Herceptin, the FDA also approved a special genetic test kit, HercepTest by Denmark based Dako Corp., to help doctors measure levels of the bad gene.
Herceptin is a genetically engineered drug that hones in on the gene fueling growth of aggressive cancer.
"The increased use of biological products such as Herceptin to treat the underlying causes of disease is an exciting development in medicine" said FDA Acting Commissioner Michael Friedman, who is a cancer specialist.
"It heralds a new age in how we're going to treat cancer" said Dr. Dennis Slamon of the Jonsson Cancer Center at the University of California.
Genentech said Herceptin would be on pharmacy shelves next month. A price has not been finalized.
It's not a magic bullet, it helped only half the woman who tested it. But test in very sick woman found it doubled their chances that tumors would shrink. In woman who already had failed standard chemotherapy, Herceptin alone cut in half tumors in 15% of woman.
A handful of woman went into remission. Most eventually relapsed, but one is alive an amazing six years later and another three years later.
The drug improved by 16% the odds of surviving a full year. Most patients, however saw about three months before the cancer progressed, a short respite albeit one considered significant in patients this sick.
Unlike chemotherapy, Herceptin caused few serious side effects in clinical testing.But it did pose one serious danger: It sometimes weakens the heart muscle, which can lead to congestive heart failure
Joe
P.S. Remember Trinity Bioteck (TRIBY) they are near there 52 week low and there Uni Gold HIV test has been in for FDA approval for some time now. Might be worth a look? |
