Her-2 Breast cancer tumours disappear in 11 days
Total euphoria is sweeping the drug industry over the recent clinical trials on the new drug Tyverb (Lapatinib). This is called Tykerb in the USA.
A two part study involving 257 women recently diagnosed with Her-2 breast cancer, showed 11 per cent of patients taking the double drug combination of Herceptin and GSK’s Tyverb has their cancers disappear in just 11 days.
The drug was shown to be effective even in cases where disease had spread to the lymph nodes.
Lead researcher Professor Nigel Bundred, Professor of surgical oncology at the University of Manchester, said: “For solid tumours to disappear in 11 days is unheard of. These are mind-boggling results.”
In a further 17 per cent of patients the tumours shrunk to the point where they are classed as ‘minimal residual cancer’
All in all, some 87 per cent of patients seemed to gain some benefit.