Combination drug therapy doubles positive effect of treatment for women with advanced breast cancer

In a groundbreaking study that offers new hope for women with advanced breast cancer, researchers from UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have published final clinical trial results that showed the amount of time women with advanced breast cancer were on treatment without their cancer worsening was effectively doubled when they took the experimental drug palbociclib. An investigational drug discovered and being developed by Pfizer Inc., palbociclib targets a key family of proteins (CDK4/6) responsible for cell growth and prevents them from dividing. Results of the multi-year Phase 2 study showed a significant increase in progression-free survival —the length of time a patient is on treatment without tumor growth — for women with advanced breast cancer that was estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative, who were given a combination of the standard anti-estrogen treatment, letrozole, and palbociclib compared to letrozole alone. “We’re essentially putting the brakes on cell proliferation and causing these tumor cells to stop growing,” said Dr. Richard Finn, associate professor of medicine at UCLA and lead author of the study. The study was published online Dec. 15 ahead of print in the journal The Lancet Oncology. Unlocking the power of palbociclib The origin of the research dates to 2007, when Finn and cancer pioneer Dr. Dennis Slamon, UCLA professor of medicine and director of the Revlon/UCLA Women’s Cancer Research Program, held a meeting with Pfizer to ...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news