Perjeta Improves Survival in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Patients

In Madrid today, researchers presented new findings on the effectiveness of Perjeta (pertuzumab, Roche), a monoclonal antibody used in combination with other drugs to treat some types of breast cancer. The updated report on the CLEOPATRA trial supports that adding Perjeta to Herceptin and chemotherapy significantly extends survival in patients with Her2-overexpressing (Her2+) metastatic breast cancer.

The international randomized trial, funded by Roche, included over 800 women with advanced Her2+ disease. The study participants all took Herceptin (trastuzumab, an antibody) and docetaxel (a chemotherapy, usually sold as Taxotere) and, based on the randomization, also received infusions of Perjeta or a placebo. Overall survival among women who received Perjeta was extended by nearly 16 months, as compared to the control.

Over half of the women with Her2+ metastatic breast cancer who received all three drugs (Perjeta, Herceptin and chemotherapy) lived for over 4.5 years on the study. This result confirms and bolsters earlier results of CLEOPATRA study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which led to the FDA’s initial 2012 approval of Perjeta for use in metastatic breast cancer.

Read the report on Forbes: http://onforb.es/YBs686