Drug Combination Shrinks Breast Cancer Tumours In 11 Days

Patients diagnosed with a specific form of breast cancer may have a new treatment option to look out for, as it shows promise in shrinking tumors.

The human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive, or HER2-positive breast cancers when compared with other breast cancers, tend to spread faster and more aggressively, and

patients with this type of cancer are more likely to experience recurrence following treatment.

In a clinical trial that involved 257 women who had been diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer, one group of women received trastuzumab, a second group received trastuzumab and lapatinib while the final group received no treatment, for the 11 days between diagnosis and surgery.

The team found that 17% of women treated with the drug combination had minimal residual disease meaning that their tumors were too small to measure cellular proliferation,  while for a further 11%, the drugs had eradicated their tumors, representing a complete pathological response.

In the group of women who were treated with only trastuzumab, minimal residual disease or a complete
pathological response was identified in just 3% of women, while neither response was identified among women who receives no treatment at all.

"Clearly these results need further confirmation, but I suspect the
excitement from seeing the speed of disappearance of the tumors will mean that several trials will attempt to confirm these results," said Professor Judith Bliss, lead researcher from the
Institute of Cancer Research in the UK.