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Our Expert on Women's Health
Q: I've heard that there are new breast cancer treatments that use antibodies. How do they work?Ask Our Expert About New Breast Cancer Treatments
Q: I've heard that there are new breast cancer treatments that use antibodies. How do they work?A: Antibodies have the ability to latch on to specific bacteria, viruses or toxins in our bodies and neutralize them. They are an important part of our immune system. Recently, through bio-engineering, researchers have developed new antibodies that can impede cancer cell growth. Two of these antibodies, Avastin (bevacizumab) and Herceptin (trastuzumab) improve treatment results for breast cancer patients. Q: How does Avastin work?A: All cancers need new blood vessels to take hold and grow. Recent research has shown that using Avastin can inhibit the growth of new blood vessels on cancer cells. Since these new blood vessels nourish the cancer cells, inhibiting their formation (“anti-angiogenesis”) deprives the cells of needed nutrition, and they starve. Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network recently participated in a clinical trial which demonstrated that combining antibody therapy with chemotherapy kept cancer from spreading for a longer time in patients with advanced breast cancer than chemotherapy alone. In this trial, the antibody Avastin was combined with the chemotherapy agent Taxol (paclitaxel). Q: How does Herceptin work?A: Some cancers secrete proteins on their surface that stimulate growth. About twenty-five percent of breast cancers produce a protein called ERB b-2, or Her-2. Production of this protein depends on your genetic make-up. When a specific gene (Her-2 NEU) is switched on, manufacture of the Her-2 protein goes into high gear. This protein stimulates cancer cell growth and may indicate a higher risk for breast cancer recurrence. Herceptin attaches to protein on the cell’s surface and prevents it from stimulating cancer cell growth. An additional clinical trial, in which Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network also participated, tested the combination of Herceptin with chemotherapy in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. Patients who received the combination of Herceptin and standard chemotherapy demonstrated a fifty-two percent decrease in cancer recurrence compared to patients who received chemotherapy alone. Patients who receive chemotherapy alone have a risk of less than one percent for congestive heart failure due to treatment. Those who receive the combination therapy have an increased risk of three to four percent. However, the risk is still small compared with the higher risk for recurrence associated with these breast cancers. Q: How do we use those findings?A: As a result of these trials, we now know that patients receiving a combination of antibody and chemotherapy do better than those receiving either therapy alone. Avastin will probably be recommended for women with advanced breast cancer. Avastin has also been approved for treatment of lung and bowel cancers. Herceptin is already being used for treatment of metastatic breast cancers which are Her-2 positive. We will now likely recommend adding it to chemotherapy for patients with newly diagnosed breast cancers that produce the Her-2 protein. Herceptin is approved only in the treatment of those specific breast cancers. More about clinical trialsAs a patient, you can do a great service to medical research by participating in a clinical trial. Trials play an important part in testing a new treatment or drug to make treatment more effective for future patients. These carefully controlled studies, conducted over a period of years, compare outcomes of patients who received different drugs or treatment combinations. The trials happen only after laboratory tests have determined the drugs are safe. They help us determine if the new drug or treatment is more effective than ones we currently use. By participating in clinical trials, hospitals and doctors show intellectual respect for learning and improving the process of treating patients individually. We participate in many clinical trials at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network because we always want to learn more about effective treatments for disease. This page last updated 5/12/08 03:10 PM
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