Possible Discovery of 'New Treatment' with Fewer Side Effects for HER2-Positive Breast Cancer, which is Known for Frequent Recurrence and Metastasis
For patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, a new treatment that reduces side effects while maintaining the therapeutic effect has shown promising results. This study was published in the latest issue of <JAMA Oncology>, one of the world's top academic journals in the field of clinical oncology.
HER2-positive breast cancer, one of several forms of breast cancer, accounts for about 20% of all breast cancer patients. Compared to other types of breast cancers, it is known that the recurrence rate is higher and the prognosis is poor. Therefore, prior to surgery, in order to increase the survival rate of patients, it is common to proceed with ‘TCHP advanced chemotherapy’, which is a mixture of cytotoxic anticancer agent and targets the anticancer agent. The problem with this however is that the toxicity of the cytotoxic anticancer drug also increases as the effect of the treatment increases. A research team has made a breakthrough in immuno-oncology, which has recently been in the spotlight. From the existing treatment, one of the cytotoxic anticancer drugs, carboplatin, was removed and the immunotherapy drug atezolizumab was added in its place. The side effects were evaluated as relatively safe.
As the combined administration of immune chemotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer has just begun to prove its effectiveness, it has also laid the foundation for positive expectations for HER2-positive breast cancer as well. However, the research team had pointed out the limitation of this phase II clinical trial of having a small number of participants with no control group, and they believe that it is essential to supplement the evidence with further research.