title: Clinical trials of Herceptin(trastuzumab).
abstract: This report summarises the clinical efficacy and safety findings from clinical trials of the new anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody Herceptin(trastuzumab). Data from pivotal trials indicate that trastuzumab is active when added to chemotherapy in patients with advanced metastatic breast cancer. In particular, the combination significantly prolonged the median time to disease progression, increased the overall response rate, increased the duration of response, and improved median survival time by approximately 25% compared with chemotherapy alone. Furthermore, trastuzumab is active as a single agent in women with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, inducing durable objective tumour responses. In total, 15% of patients who had received extensive prior treatment for metastatic disease had an objective response. The median duration of response was 9.1 months following administration of single-agent trastuzumab. Notably, 2% of patients were free of disease progression at 6 months. The safety profile of trastuzumab either given alone or in combination was favourable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital General Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Psg. Vall d'Hebron, 119-129, E-08035 Barcelona, Spain. baselga@hg.vhebron.es
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Baselga
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D017322:Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D016019:Survival Analysis; D000068878:Trastuzumab; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D002945:Cisplatin; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D000068878:Trastuzumab