New research that’s been presented at the European Breast Cancer Conference shows that two drugs have eliminated certain types of breast cancers.in just 11 days.
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The second phase of the trial involved 127 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, who were split into three different groups.
However, halfway through the trial, evidence from other trials of the effectiveness of the combination led to additional women being allocated to the lapatinib group also being prescribed trastuzumab. The trial was fairly small, however 87% of the patients responded to the treatment positively, in that their cancer stopped producing cells.
The researchers hoped that the findings would lead to an investigation on easily-available drugs such as metformin, not just on breast density, but on breast cancer risk overall.
In future, this new treatment can spare thousands of women from cruel rounds of chemotherapy that are generally followed by surgery.
The EPHOS B trial, led by researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, the University of Manchester and University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, studied 257 women with HER2 positive breast cancer in the short gap between initial diagnosis and surgery to remove their tumours. For those women randomised to receive only trastuzumab, 0% had pCR and 3% had MRD and no patients had either pCR or MRD in the control group. “This could mean some women can avoid chemotherapy after their surgery”, she said.
Samples of tumour tissue were taken from the first biopsy, which had been used to confirm the cancer diagnosis, and then again during surgery.
Experts looked to see if there had been a drop in levels of Ki67 protein – an indicator of cells growing and dividing – or a rise in cancer cell death of 30% or more.
“It was only when the pathologist was scratching around in the lab, saying ‘Where is the tumour?’ that it became apparent that there was no tumour”, he said.
In 11 per cent of those women, no active cancer cells could be found and the tumours in a further 17 per cent had shrunk to less than 5mm in diameter.
Professor Palmieri, who is also a consultant at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Merseyside, said: “Both studies are using the skill and expertise of colleagues in Liverpool and beyond”. Nevertheless, researchers said the 11-day response was very surprising. For others, their tumors may not shrink, but doctors will know either way very quickly, giving them the ability to rapidly decide on further treatment, ” Samia al Qadhi, chief executive at Breast Cancer Care, said.
In the United Kingdom, around 53,000 women a year are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, and in 10% to 15% of these cases it is HER2 positive breast cancer.
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HER2 positive breast cancer is breast cancer that has a high number of receptors for the human epidermal growth factor (HER2) on the surfaces of the cancer cells.
