Researchers have discovered a potential treatment option for clinically advanced metastatic tumors. The novel treatment involves combining 2 drugs previously administered to a patient that are no longer effective. Together, the 2 drugs boost one another’s efficacy while at the same time breaking down the patient’s resistance to each of the drugs individually. The treatment study, lead by the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), was recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
“The novelty factor does not lie in the combination itself, but in the combination of two drugs that had already been administered in the past and had each failed,” explained the lead author, Dr Javier Cortés, the head of the Breast Cancer Program at the VHIO.
“The study focused on HER2 positive breast cancer, although the concept could be applied to the treatment of other tumors,” continued Cortés. More specifically, researchers administered trastuzumab and, once the tumor resumed growing, pertuzumab (a drug currently pending approval) was used. When the cancer continued to progress the 2 drugs were administered together. “The results were very positive and highly informative for new studies”, said Cortés.
Researchers found “that almost 50% of the tumors responded to this combination and did so very positively, showing a clear improvement or keeping the disease stable for a considerable period of time,” concluded Cortés. Therefore, this strategy potentially offers an unparalleled number of multiple treatment options.
Source: Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology.