Herceptin
new anticancer drug a new era of treatment ?
(without damaging normal cells)

"Herald a new era of treatment based on molecular targeting of tumor cells, reported researchers at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology."

Favourable results with a new antibody therapy against breast cancer, HER-2/neu (Herceptin), The HER-2/neu proto-oncogene encodes a growth factor receptor that is over expressed in 20-30% of metastatic breast cancers. This over expression (or over production) is associated with decreased survival and decreased relapse-free periods. The anti-HER2 antibody is designed to block this receptor.

The long-awaited results from a large clinical trial of Herceptin combined with chemotherapy regimens (paclitaxel or anthracycline plus cyclophosphamide) compared to chemotherapy alone indicate that adding this antibody to chemotherapy did increase the clinical benefit by slowing the progression of the cancer and increasing tumor shrinkage,

Herceptin - mode of action (simplified approach)