Drug ‘improves survival of some women with breast cancer’

GIVING women with a certain type of breast cancer the drug Herceptin for one year following standard chemotherapy may improve their survival, scientists revealed today.

Around 15%-25% of women with early breast cancer have a type called HER2-receptor positive disease. Herceptin has been shown to reduce the risk of disease recurrence in women with HER2-positive early breast cancer, the Lancet reported yesterday.

In the study, doctors assessed the effect of the drug on overall survival after two years follow-up. During the trial, 1,703 women were randomised to receive Herceptin for one year after surgery and chemotherapy and 1,698 women were assigned to the control group.