New data presented today demonstrate that the addition of Herceptin® (trastuzumab) to chemotherapy prior to breast cancer surgery can significantly increase the response to therapy, resulting in substantial tumour shrinkage and even complete disappearance of the tumour. The phase III study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting investigated the use of neoadjuvant (treatment given prior to surgery) Herceptin in combination with chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced HER2-positive breast cancer, a particularly aggressive form of the disease.
