Adding pertuzumab to treatment in breast cancer

This study wanted to find out which treatment is better for breast cancer, chemotherapy plus trastuzumab (Herceptin) and surgery, or pertuzumab (Perjeta), and chemotherapy plus trastuzumab (Herceptin) and surgery. The study found that adding pertuzumab to the standard treatment worked better to completely remove all signs of cancer compared to the standard treatment alone.

There are many options for treatment of breast cancer. Some breast cancers can have a mutation in a gene called HER2. Because of this, doctors can use medicine which targets this gene. A common medicine used is called trastuzumab (Herceptin). Other common treatments include chemotherapy and surgery to remove the tumor, which is the standard treatment. Pertuzumab is another anti-cancer medicine. It is thought that adding pertuzumab to standard treatment for breast cancer will result in better outcomes. This has been shown in a number of clinical trials. However, it has not been shown to work in real-world applications outside of clinical trials.

This study consisted of 300 patients. All the patients had been diagnosed with breast cancer. In total. 192 patients received the standard treatment. The remaining 108 patients had pertuzumab added to their standard treatment.

In the patients who received standard treatment, it was found that 30.2% had no cancer cells left in the body after treatment. In those who received standard treatment plus pertuzumab 52.8% had no cancer cells left in the body after treatment.

This study found that adding pertuzumab to standard treatment for HER2 positive breast cancer resulted in higher rates of complete response, where no cancer cells remain in the body.

This study confirms findings that are already known.

Talk to your oncologist about your treatment plan.