Herceptin ‘improves some breast cancer survival rates’

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

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, medical journal The Lancet reports.

In the study, doctors assessed the effect of the drug on overall survival after two years’ follow-up.