Roche has received European Commission approval for Herceptin (trastuzumab) for patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer following surgery and chemotherapy. HER2-positive breast cancer affects approximately 20% to 30% of women with breast cancer and has a higher likelihood of relapse. The fast approval was based on results from the international HERA (HERceptin Adjuvant) study which showed Herceptin following standard chemotherapy significantly reduces the risk of cancer coming back by 46% compared to chemotherapy alone.
In HER2-positive breast cancer, increased quantities of the HER2 protein are present on the surface of the tumour cells. This is known as ‘HER2 positivity.’ High levels of HER2 are present in a particularly aggressive form of the disease which responds poorly to chemotherapy. Research shows that HER2-positivity affects approximately 20-30% of women with breast cancer.
Herceptin is a humanised antibody, designed to target and block the function of HER2, a protein produced by a specific gene with cancer-causing potential. In addition to its efficacy in the early-stage breast cancer setting, Herceptin also has demonstrated improved survival in the advanced (metastatic) setting, where its addition to chemotherapy allows patients to live up to one-third longer than chemotherapy alone.
Herceptin received approval in the European Union in 2000 for use in patients with metastatic breast cancer, whose tumours overexpress the HER2 protein. In addition to being indicated for use in combination with docetaxel as a first-line therapy in HER2-positive patients who have not received chemotherapy for their metastatic (advanced) disease, it is also indicated as a first-line therapy in combination with paclitaxel where anthracyclines are unsuitable, and as a single agent in third-line therapy. Herceptin is marketed in the United States by Genentech, in Japan by Chugai and internationally by Roche. Since 1998, Herceptin has been used to treat over 230,000 HER2-positive breast cancer patients worldwide.
In the US, Genentech filed a supplemental Biologic License Application (sBLA) for the use of Herceptin in early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on February 15th, 2006. The application is based on data from the combined interim analysis of two large US trials, and Genentech has received a priority review designation.
