FRIDAY, May 30, (News Locale) - A combination therapy of Herceptin and pertuzumab was found useful in slowing the progression of metastatic breast cancer, Herceptin maker Roche has announced.  

Pertuzumab is a drug that prevents the pairing of HER2 with other HER receptors. This is one of the key steps involved in the spread of cancer.

Results of a Phase II trial will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2008 meeting in Chicago showed that patients whose breast cancer had progressed under a Herceptin-only regimen were benefited from the combination therapy.

“This efficacy is the best I have observed with HER2-targeted therapy without chemotherapy, and represents significant promise for women with breast cancer in the future”, Switzerland -based Roche quoted Dr Jose Baselga (Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain), lead investigator of the Phase II trial as saying.

In the study some 8 percent of women saw their breast tumors completely disappear while 16 percent of women had shrinkage in the size of their tumors. A quarter of the patients did not have breast cancer progression for at least 6 months.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. HER2-positive breast cancer is a breast cancer that tests positive for a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2). Roche's own Trastuzumab or Herceptin is an excellent drug targeting the HER-2 receptors and prevents breast cancer recurrence in such women.

For more information please visit Company Web Site: http://www.roche.com