Sanofi drug proves effective in combination cancer treatment

The investigation including more than 3,000 patients shows Taxotere, a non-anthracycline-based chemotherapy, combined with Herceptin could improve disease-free survival with no increase of cardiotoxicity in patients with early stage HER2-positive breast cancer.

HER2-positive breast cancer was first described in 1987 in women whose tumors contain this alteration have a much more aggressive form of the disease. With the introduction of Herceptin, a targeted therapy against HER2-positive breast cancer, it was found that there was a significant increase in cardiotoxicity when anthracycline was used in conjunction with Herceptin.

The purpose of the present trial was twofold; first to determine if the introduction of Herceptin in early stage HER2-positive breast cancer significantly improves clinical outcomes and second, to determine if the increased cardiotoxicity seen with Herceptin when used with anthracyclines could be avoided using a novel regimen of Taxotere without anthracyclines.

The study entered its first patient in March 2001 and has enrolled a total of 3,222 women. The study is now closed to accrual and continues to monitor patients for longer-term analysis.