The drug Herceptin, already viewed as promising for women with both early and late-stage breast cancer, got another boost Thursday with new research showing the heart damage it sometimes causes might be avoidable. It also might still be effective when given for a shorter time, a finding that could drastically lower the cost of the pricey treatment.At a meeting of more than 7,000 breast cancer experts on Thursday, Finnish doctors said nine weeks of Herceptin instead of the usual year prevented recurrences and didn’t raise the risk of heart failure. A second study found that pairing it with novel chemotherapy gave good results and avoided much of the risk of heart damage.
