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news.Roche has revealed that data from a phase III study show that the addition of Herceptin to the hormonal therapy, Arimidex, increases the length of time that patients live without their cancer progressing for patients whose advanced breast cancer is hormone receptor-positive, as well as HER2-positive.
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According to the company, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer affects two-thirds of patients with breast cancer and is typically considered 'lower-risk' due to successful treatment with hormonal therapies. However, up to a quarter of these breast cancers are also HER2-positive, an aggressive form of the disease that requires special and immediate attention because the tumors are fast-growing and there is a higher likelihood of relapse.
The phase III study which enrolled 208 patients at 134 sites in 25 countries across the world was the first randomized study in this specific subset of 'co-positive' patients, whose prognosis has been uncertain thus far.
“We are glad to learn from this study that the combination therapy offers a new treatment regimen for these breast cancer patients who suffer from an extremely aggressive form of the disease,” said Eduard Holdener, global head of Roche Pharma Development.