New, safer targeted therapy saved breast cancer patient's life
12:44 p.m. Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Marsha Brekke says she knows all she needs to about a new drug called Tykerb: It is saving her life.
"This drug was a Godsend," Brekke, a breast cancer patient, said. "That's the only way I can explain it."
Brekke, like 25 percent of breast cancer patients, had a form of the disease called HER2-positive. She tried different kinds of chemotherapy as well as the the popular drug Herceptin.
But the cancer still spread to her liver. Then doctors gave her Tykerb.
"It was my last chance. It's very scary when you're sitting in your doctor' s office and you know you are terminal," she said.
After six months on Tykerb her tumors had all disappeared. Today, a year-and-a-half later, she is cancer free.
"This probably ranks as one of the three big developments in breast cancer treatment in my career of taking care of breast cancer patients," said Duke University Medical Center Dr. Kimberly Blackwell.
It is easier to take: A daily pill instead of a weekly IV drip. And in clinical trials, it was safer; A study showed fewer cases of heart failure than those taking Herceptin.
Tykerb is the latest so-called "targetted therapy." There are now half a dozen targeted therapies for breast cancer patients; Drugs that work more effectively and with fewer side effects.
"Targetting really reflects the fact we're unlocking the secret of cancer growth, and we're developing treatments that exploit specific weaknesses in the cancer," Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Dr. Clifford Hudis.
Researchers predict the next step is to combine different targetted therapies, allowing even more breast cancer patients to beat this disease.
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