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A particularly fast-growing form of breast cancer should be treated aggressively after surgery even when tumors are very small, according to new research that could alter treatment for one in five women diagnosed with breast cancer. The research, reported Friday at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, focuses on the 15 percent to 20 percent of women with breast cancer who test positive for an amplification of the HER2 gene, which is typically among the most aggressive forms of the disease. Today, a targeted therapy called Herceptin, made by the biotech company Genentech, has greatly improved the odds for women...

ACS News Center         Herceptin Shows Benefits in Early Stage Breast Cancer Recurrences Cut in Half, Survival Improved Article date: 2005/04/27 Herceptin (trastuzumab), a drug used to treat some types of advanced breast cancer, also appears to help some women with early stages of the disease, according to two studies. The results were so promising that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) stopped the research ahead of schedule to make the findings public. In the studies, women who received Herceptin along with chemotherapy had half the risk of the cancer returning as women treated only with chemotherapy. They...