Promising New Breast Cancer Treatment
(June 4, 2012) – A new cancer treatment, described as a smart bomb of sorts, is showing significant promise in delaying the growth of breast cancer tumors. Dr. Donald Miller, Director of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center said, “This is major step forward, a silver bullett that can attack cancer cells and minimize collatoral damage to the health parts of the body.”
JGBCC Breast Team Oncologists Dr. Beth Riley and Dr.Dharamvir Jain participated at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago, where the findings were released. Patients from the James Graham Brown Cancer Center were among those in three year trial, that followed nearly 1,000 people with advanced breast cancer. The results will form the basis for Genentech, the drug’s manufacturer, to seek marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
T-DM1 represents one of the first in a new class of cancer-fighting agents called antibody drug conjugates. The conjugate homes in on a protein known as human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, or HER-2.
Dr. Miller noted JGBCC scientists have been working on other similiar methods to advance this smart bomb idea further. “We have a special interest in looking at small molecules that inhibit cancer motabilism. We have drugs that will be going into clinical trial later this year and we’re real excited about the possibillities they have for getting better answers for our patients.”
MORE COVERAGE ABOUT TDM-1