https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. For patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2-positive) metastatic or locally advanced unresected gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (mGEA), zanidatamab and chemotherapy, with or without tislelizumab, may prolong survival compared with trastuzumab + chemotherapy, according to a study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, held from Jan. 8 to 10 in San Francisco. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-trial-zanidatamab-chemo-beneficial-her2.html Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:30:01 EST news687453606 In patients with high-risk HER2-positive breast cancer, post-surgery, or adjuvant, treatment with trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) reduced the long-term risk of death or invasive disease by 46% and improved survival compared to trastuzumab alone, according to the final results of the Phase III KATHERINE clinical trial led by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-01-phase-iii-trial-trastuzumab-emtansine.html Wed, 15 Jan 2025 17:00:01 EST news656156581 A new editorial paper titled "HER2-low and HER2-zero in breast cancer between prognosis, prediction and entity" has been published in Oncotarget. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-discuss-her2-breast-cancer.html Tue, 16 Jul 2024 15:19:02 EDT news640361941 A new meta-analysis published in OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology helps shed light on how changes in mitochondria-related gene expression may cause the cardiotoxicity associated with the cancer therapy trastuzumab. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-trastuzumab-cardiotoxicity.html Mon, 18 Mar 2024 16:33:51 EDT news629998422 For patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive metastatic breast cancer previously treated with trastuzumab and a taxane, the risk of progression or death from any cause is lower with trastuzumab deruxtecan versus trastuzumab emtansine, according to a study published in the March 24 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-03-trastuzumab-deruxtecan-ups-pfs-her2.html Thu, 24 Mar 2022 11:39:54 EDT news567340792 Treating women diagnosed with one type of early-stage breast cancer with the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab after surgery reduces the risk of the cancer returning, reports a research team led by University of Saskatchewan (USask) oncologist Dr. Shahid Ahmed (MD). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-01-post-surgical-monoclonal-antibody-treatment-breast.html Mon, 31 Jan 2022 07:54:16 EST news562838052 A moderate amount of a peptide-enhanced, biological cancer drug goes a long way in treating breast cancers that metastasize to the bone. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-01-antibody-peptide-bone-metastasis.html Mon, 24 Jan 2022 16:13:21 EST news562263193 The NRG Oncology clinical trial NRG-RTOG 1010, studying the addition of the drug trastuzumab to chemoradiation and surgery, did not reach its primary goal of improving disease-free survival (DFS) rates for patients with HER2 overexpressing esophageal adenocarcinoma. Despite not reaching its primary aim, this trial demonstrated that trastuzumab did not increase the toxicities of standard treatment within this patient population. Thus, this trial provides the necessary background for future research to explore combining the drug with other HER2-targeting agents in a trimodality or immunotherapy treatment which could be beneficial in this setting. These results were recently published in the The Lancet Oncology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-01-trastuzumab-chemoradiation-surgery-outcomes-esophageal.html Fri, 21 Jan 2022 10:39:28 EST news561983965 During the virtual 2021 Annual Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), 16-21 September, research (co) led by VHIO investigators revealed promising advances in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Among these, a trio of Late-Breaking studies selected by ESMO as oral presentations, were presented and discussed by VHIO faculty. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-09-advances-treatment-metastatic-breast-cancer.html Mon, 20 Sep 2021 10:52:03 EDT news551353920 Thomas Hatschek, associate professor at the department of Oncology-Pathology, together with colleagues, has recently published an article in JAMA Oncology showing that a new treatment for breast cancer with an antibody linked to a cytotoxic drug is as good as the previous combination, but with fewer side effects. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-08-treatment-method-breast-cancer-side.html Wed, 18 Aug 2021 09:45:53 EDT news548498750 Yale Cancer Center (YCC) scientists have found that combining the targeted drug trastuzumab with chemotherapy significantly improves survival rates for women with a rare, aggressive form of endometrial cancer. These results may help to change the standard of care worldwide for the disease. The findings are published today in the journal Clinical Cancer Research. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-validates-combination-therapy-aggressive-endometrial.html Mon, 29 Jun 2020 10:34:59 EDT news512645696 A new study published in Oncotarget reports that despite relevant medical advancements, metastatic breast cancer remains an incurable disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-line-trastuzumab-emtansine-horizontal-dual.html Thu, 04 Jun 2020 09:43:58 EDT news510482633 Results of the NRG Oncology clinical trial RTOG 1010 indicate that the addition of the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab to neoadjuvant trimodality treatment did not improve disease-free survival (DFS) outcomes for patient with HER2 overexpressing local and locally advanced esophageal adenocarcinoma. These results were orally presented during the virtual Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-trastuzumab-combined-trimodality-treatment-outcomes.html Mon, 01 Jun 2020 07:14:27 EDT news510214463 The addition of the monoclonal antibody therapy trastuzumab to radiotherapy did not reach the protocol objective of a 36% reduction in the ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence rate for women with HER2-positive ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) on the NRG Oncology clinical trial NSABP B-43. The trial did find a statistically non-significant, modest (19%) reduction in the rate of recurrence among women that received trastuzumab, but this difference was not statistically significant. These results were recently exhibited during an oral presentation at the virtual Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-trastuzumab-slight-reduction-recurrence-women.html Fri, 29 May 2020 12:44:00 EDT news509975038 Anthracyclines remain a cornerstone of breast cancer therapy in combination with new-generation targeted drugs such as trastuzumab. Both types of drugs are major culprits in chemotherapy-induced heart disease. A recent study showed that being overweight or obese was a risk factor for cardiotoxicity in chemotherapy-treated patients with breast cancer, but it did not take into account related cardiac risk factors or other classic risk factors of cardiotoxicity produced by anthracycline and trastuzumab (e.g., older age, concomitant chemotherapy or previous radiation therapy, smoking, high blood pressure, or diabetes). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-12-obesity-factor-cardiotoxicity-chemotherapy-treated-patients.html Mon, 23 Dec 2019 14:00:02 EST news496316216 The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Wednesday that it had for the first time approved a "biosimilar" medicine—one derived from living sources rather than chemicals—to make breast cancer treatment affordable to women globally. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-12-closer-cheaper-breast-cancer-treatment.html Wed, 18 Dec 2019 16:34:25 EST news495909260 The trastuzumab biosimilar HLX02 achieved similar overall response rate to reference trastuzumab in women with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2+) recurrent or previously untreated metastatic breast cancer, according to a large, randomised phase III study reported at the ESMO Asia 2019 Congress. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-11-biosimilar-her2-breast-cancer-response.html Fri, 22 Nov 2019 11:46:46 EST news493645600 Despite trastuzumab being a game-changing treatment for HER2-positive breast cancers over the past two decades, its success has come with key gaps in the understanding of how, exactly, it works. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-11-mechanism-breast-cancer-drug-therapy.html Fri, 15 Nov 2019 07:48:29 EST news493026504 Radioactive antibodies that target cancer cells are used for medical diagnostics with PET imaging or for targeted radioimmunotherapy. Researchers from the University of Zurich have created a new method for radiolabelling antibodies using UV light. In less than 15 minutes, the proteins are ready-to-use for cancer imaging or therapy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-04-simple-fast-method-radiolabelling-antibodies.html Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:00:08 EDT news475315200 Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have demonstrated a method of forecasting which breast cancer patients will suffer heart problems from a commonly used chemotherapy drug. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-drug-alleviate-side-effects-chemo.html Thu, 14 Mar 2019 06:03:11 EDT news471762173 Substituting trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1, Kadcyla) for adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin) in patients who had residual disease after receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy and trastuzumab reduced the risk of developing an invasive recurrence of HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer by 50 percent, according to data from the phase III clinical trial KATHERINE presented at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 4-8. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-12-phase-iii-katherine-trial-early.html Wed, 05 Dec 2018 09:34:30 EST news463224853 Breast cancer patients who take a heart drug at the same time as trastuzumab have less heart damage, according to a study presented today at EuroEcho-Imaging 2018.1 https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-12-breast-cancer-patients-heart-drug_1.html Wed, 05 Dec 2018 09:30:07 EST news463223943 Breast cancer patients who take a heart drug at the same time as trastuzumab have less heart damage, according to a study presented today at EuroEcho-Imaging 2018. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-12-breast-cancer-patients-heart-drug.html Wed, 05 Dec 2018 08:07:12 EST news463219621 Women with HER2-positive early breast cancer with small tumours have similar disease-free survival and lower risk of cardiac toxicity with a nine-week course of adjuvant trastuzumab compared to those treated for one year, according to a subgroup analysis of the Short-HER trial reported at ESMO 2018 Congress in Munich. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-10-her2-early-breast-cancers-shorter-course.html Mon, 22 Oct 2018 09:20:01 EDT news459417526 A phase III randomized clinical trial of 4,088 women with HER2-positive, early-stage breast cancer found that taking trastuzumab (Herceptin) for 6 months was non-inferior to the current standard of 12 months. The disease-free survival rate at four years was 89.4% with 6 months of therapy and 89.8% with 12 months of therapy. In addition, only 4% of women in the 6-month arm stopped trastuzumab early because of cardiac problems, compared with 8% in the 12-month arm. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-05-shorter-trastuzumab-treatment-her2-breast.html Thu, 17 May 2018 10:15:01 EDT news445770894 Adding the monoclonal antibody drug trastuzumab—already used to treat certain breast cancers—to the chemotherapy regimen of women with a rare form of uterine cancer lengthens the amount of time their tumors are kept from growing, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers conducting a small phase II trial of the regimen, testing its safety and value. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-04-drug-combo-survival-women-rare.html Tue, 10 Apr 2018 11:07:08 EDT news442577215 Breast cancer patients who started taking one of two well-known heart medications at the same time they initiated trastuzumab—a targeted cancer therapy that has been linked to heart damage—received no benefit in terms of preventing declines in heart function, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 67th Annual Scientific Session. However, in patients who had received or were concurrently receiving anthracycline-based chemotherapy in addition to trastuzumab, the occurrence of heart damage was halved among those taking either the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-inhibitor) lisinopril or beta blocker carvedilol, compared with placebo after two years of follow-up. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-03-popular-heart-medications-herceptin-induced-issues.html Mon, 12 Mar 2018 08:20:01 EDT news440061299 Long-term follow-up results of the NRG Oncology trial NSABP B-31 have shown that the addition of trastuzumab to adjuvant chemotherapy does not negatively affect cardiac function in women with node-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive, early-stage breast cancer who survive without cancer recurrence. Both patients who received trastuzumab in addition to chemotherapy and patients who received chemotherapy only maintained good cardiac function. Results of this follow-up analysis were published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-01-trastuzumab-negative-impact-cardiac-function.html Wed, 03 Jan 2018 13:05:13 EST news434207105 Adding trastuzumab (Herceptin) to standard adjuvant chemotherapy did not improve invasive disease–free survival for patients with early-stage breast cancer found to have low levels of HER2, as defined as immunohistochemistry (IHC) 1+ or 2+ and/or in situ hybridization (ISH) negative, according to data from the randomized, phase III NSABP-B-47 clinical trial presented at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 5–9. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-12-adjuvant-trastuzumab-outcomes-patients-her2-low.html Wed, 06 Dec 2017 10:19:36 EST news431777967 Treatment with trastuzumab (Herceptin/Genentech) of breast cancers that express the HER-2 protein does not increase the risk for complications at the surgical site for women who undergo immediate breast reconstruction after mastectomy. The first study to assess the effect of trastuzumab on surgical wound complications indicates that breast reconstruction need not be delayed because of the type or length of this form of adjuvant therapy. (Adjuvant therapy is treatment that is given in addition to the primary or main form of treatment to maximize effectiveness.) Study results appear as an "article in press" on the Journal of the American College of Surgeons website in advance of print. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-10-trastuzumab-treatment-breast-reconstruction-mastectomy.html Tue, 03 Oct 2017 15:25:41 EDT news426263132