New drug combinations are helping women with early breast cancer. Using two drugs that more precisely target tumors doubled the number of women whose cancer disappeared compared to those who had only one of the drugs, doctors reported yesterday.
It was the first test of Herceptin and Tykerb together for early-stage disease. They aim at a protein called HER-2 that is overproduced in about one-fourth of all breast cancers. Herceptin blocks the protein on the cell’s surface; Tykerb does it inside the cell.
Patients were treated for about four months before surgery and for nine months afterward.
Just over half of the women who received Herceptin and Tykerb were discovered to have no signs of invasive cancer when their surgeries were done, versus only 25 to 30 percent of those given just one of the drugs.
The main side effect of combo treatment is to the wallet: Tykerb pills cost $5,000 to $6,000 per month. Herceptin costs more than $4,000 a month.
“The possibility that we have here is to enhance the number of patients that are cured” and avoid more treatment down the line that might cost more, Baselga said.