Innovative solutions for breast cancer
BREAST cancer has the highest incidence worldwide. It is the most prominent cancer in women. Each year, over 1.4 million new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed globally and over 450,000 women die of the disease annually. As of 2018 in the Philippines, breast cancer was the most common cancer, constituting to over 19 percent of all new reported cancer cases.
At the recently concluded Philippine Society of Medical Oncology Convention, held in partnership with the American Society of Clinical Oncology, pharmaceutical company Roche ( Philippines) Inc. shared the latest innovations in HER2- positive breast cancer treatment utilizing dual blockade treatments.
Medical doctor Stephen Chia, a professor in the Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, and chairman of the British Columbia Breast Tumor Group Council, presented the latest research addressing unmet needs of Human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER2) positive breast cancer patients in the adjuvant setting and the results of clinical trials utilizing Pertuzumab in combined adjuvant therapy that achieve less disease recurrence for HER2-positive early breast cancer patients.
About HER2 positive breast cancer
Human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER2) positive breast cancer is a type of breast cancer that overexpresses a protein called HER2.
Among women with breast cancer, 15 to 20 percent are HER2 positive. This type of breast cancer tends to be more aggressive than other types. HER2 positive patients are also less responsive to hormone or other initial forms of treatment. However, targeted treatments specifically for HER2 can be very effective.
Many HER2 positive breast cancer patients may be treated with surgery, chemotherapy or targeted therapies to achieve positive outcomes.
Adding Pertuzumab to Trastuzumab adjuvant treatment
“In the era before Trastuzumab, HER2 positive breast cancer was a subgroup that had the worst prognosis,” shared Dr. Chia. “With chemotherapy and adjuvant Trastuzumab therapy, outcomes were significantly improved. However, it still didn’t cure all women. We still see about 25 percent of node [+] HER2-positive breast cancer patients who experience relapse 10 years after the standard care of one year adjuvant Trastuzumab, so there is still an unmet need there.”
Chia shared the results of the latest clinical trial — APHINITY. In the study, patients were given Pertuzumab along with their standard care of one-year adjuvant Trastuzumab treatment. The results showed a significant improvement in reducing the risk of disease recurrence or death. In addition, no new safety signals were raised arising from the treatment.
“There was a statistically significant improvement in invasive disease free survival in patients from this study,” Chia explained. “The control arms, which received standard therapy of chemotherapy and Trastuzumab adjuvant therapy alone, still did well and had a close to 91-percent disease-free survival rate. This was improved by about 20 percent with the addition of Pertuzumab.”
In the Philippines, Pertuzumab is approved for the treatment of HER2 positive early breast cancer and metastatic breast cancer in patients determined eligible for treatment via diagnostic tests (e.g. HER2 testing). Pertuzumab is a prescription drug. Pertuzumab works synergistically with trastuzumab to block cancer cell survival and growth signals, specifically targeting the HER2 receptor. The combination of Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab treatment yields longer overall survival in patients with HER2 positive breast cancer.
To help make Pertuzumab treatment more accessible to Filipino patients, Roche had created an innovative Patient Support Program for the medication. For more information and to enroll, doctors and patients may contact (02) 395-3558.