Herceptin effective breast cancer drug

LONDON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Research shows the drug Herceptin is effective in treating the early stages of a specific type of breast cancer, British doctors said.

The drug is approved as an early treatment for breast cancer that expressed HER-2 protein, the BBC said Friday. About quarter of all breast cancers are this type.

Researchers gave Herceptin to 1,703 breast cancer patients for one year after surgery and chemotherapy. Another 1,698 women did not receive the drug. Fifty-nine women who received the drug died, compared to 90 deaths in the control population.

Lead researcher Dr. Ian Smith of Royal Marsden Hospital said the results indicated Herceptin "shows a significant overall survival benefit in early breast cancer over observation alone after chemotherapy." He said further study was needed.

Dr. John Toy, medical director for Cancer Research UK, agreed, saying questions remained about how long Herceptin should be prescribed and how to best combine it with other breast cancer therapies.

Herceptin is costly -- about $39,000 for a year -- and can have severe side effects, doctors said. Side effects include high blood pressure, depression, hot flashes and heart failure.

The findings were reported in the British medical journal The Lancet.