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Oct. 3, 2006 (Istanbul, Turkey) -- An experimental pill shows promise for women with a rare and lethal form of breast cancer who cannot be helped by other treatments, a new study shows.
Reporting at the annual meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology here, researchers say the drug, Tykerb, helps women with relapsing inflammatory breast cancercancer.
"Inflammatory breast cancer is an especially aggressive and rapidly progressing form of breast cancer that is characterized by redness of the breast, pain, and swelling," says researcher Bella Kaufman, MD, of Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel.
"It may be the most lethal form of breast cancer and there are few treatment options," she tells WebMD. "More than one-third of women have metastatic disease (cancer that has spread to other parts of the body) at the time of diagnosis, and only 40% of women are still alive three years later."
About 1% to 3% of women in the U.S. develop the condition, although rates are higher among African-Americans -- about 10%. More than one-third of women are younger than 50 at the time of diagnosis. It can often occur without a distinct breast lump.
A Targeted Therapy
Developed by GlaxoSmithKline, the new pill is one of the newer drugs that target tumors' genetic roots. GlaxoSmithKline is a WebMD sponsor.
These so-called targeted therapies -- smart bombs that take aim at the nuts and bolts of tumor growth while leaving healthy tissue relatively unscathed -- usually have the advantage of not only being more effective than traditional chemotherapy, but also having fewer side effects, says Alan Coates, MD, a clinical professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney in Australia, who was not involved with the research.
Specifically, Tykerb zeroes in on two related proteins -- HER2 and EGFR -- that sit on the surface of inflammatory breast cancer cells and play a critical role in the growth and spread of cancer.
In excess, both HER2 and EGFR are some of the really bad guys, instigating cancer spread. They have a direct effect on cancer cells, stimulating the cells to proliferate, migrate, and metastasize. Tykerb attaches to the proteins, thereby blocking their action, and slowing or stopping the growth of tumor cells.
Tumor Growth Halted
The researchers studied two groups of women: 32 women whose tumors had high levels of HER2 and 15 women whose tumors had high levels of EGFR but not HER2. All took one Tykerb pill once a day for at least 56 days.
Results showed that tumors shrank or stopped growing in half of the women with high HER2 levels. Seven percent of the women with high levels of EGFR but not HER2 had a similar response.
The drug was generally well tolerated. Side effects included mild skin rashesrashes and diarrheadiarrhea that could be easily managed with over-the-counter medications.
If the findings can be replicated in larger studies, the experimental cancer drug may offer a new, highly targeted approach to fighting highly lethal breast tumors with few side effects, Kaufman says.
Kaufman notes that the drug is also being studied in women with advanced, metastatic breast cancer.
SOURCES: 31st ESMO Congress, Istanbul, Turkey, Sept. 29-Oct. 6, 2006. Bella Kaufman, MD, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel. Alan Coates, MD, clinical professor, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Australia.