title: Pertuzumab. Promising for some women with metastatic breast cancer, but more assessment needed.
abstract: Adding trastuzumab to chemotherapy can prolong overall survival among women with metastatic or locally recurrent unresectable breast cancer that overexpresses HER-2 protein. Pertuzumab (Perjeta, Roche) is a monoclonal antibody that targets HER-2. It has a different binding site from that of trastuzumab, another anti-HER-2 antibody. Pertuzumab has been authorised in the European Union as an adjunct to the trastuzumab + docetaxel combination. A double-blind randomised placebo-controlled trial involving 808 carefully selected patients (including two men), followed for about 2.5 years, showed that the addition of pertuzumab to trastuzumab + docetaxel prolonged overall survival: it was estimated that the 3-year survival rate increased by 10% to 15%. Median progression-free survival was 6 months longer in the pertuzumab group. Addition of pertuzumab did not aggravate cardiac toxicity among patients with a low cardiovascular risk at baseline. In contrast, adding pertuzumab increased the incidence of potentially severe diarrhoea, mucocutaneous disorders (rash, dry skin, mucosal inflammation) and febrile neutropenia. In practice, these results are interesting but they must be confirmed in other comparative trials before recommending routine use of pertuzumab.
mesh_terms: D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary*; D018567:Breast Neoplasms, Male / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human; C485206:pertuzumab