Herceptin Heart Damage Reversible

Ivanhoe Newswire
Tuesday, August 15, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A drug used to aggressively treat breast cancer -- Herceptin -- has been recently linked with cardiac toxicity. The good news is heart damage caused by Herceptin can be reversed.

According to new research, 28 percent of metastatic breast cancer patients treated with Herceptin have had heart related damage -- a higher number than what's been previously reported in clinical trials.

Approximately 30 percent of patients with metastatic breast cancer produce an excess amount of a growth protein called HER2-positive, making the cancer that much more aggressive. Herceptin, or trastuzumab, is a monoclonal antibody that inhibits any tumor growth by latching onto these proteins.

Researchers testing Herceptin in previous clinical trials concluded between 10 percent and 26 percent of patients experienced cardiac toxicity. Before this study no one had looked at what happened to patients treated in a clinic, outside of an organized trial, after using Herceptin for one year, according to lead author Franciso J. Esteva, M.D., Ph.D, associate professor in the department of Medical Oncology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

The study, led by Dr. Esteva, followed 173 patients with metastatic breast cancer. After a year of Herceptin use, patients were given a baseline cardiac assessment along with the regular cardiac check ups. After about 32 months, researchers discovered 46, or 28 percent, of the patients experienced a cardiac event.

All but three patients improved cardiac function after discontinuing Herceptin as well as using cardiac treatments like beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors.

Dr. Esteva reports, "If the cardiac side effects of Herceptin treatment can be managed, the drug is safe to use."

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology, published online Aug. 14, 2006