Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Study Shows Breast Cancer Treatment Can Be Cut In Half: There's No Longer A 'Need To Throw The Kitchen Sink At It'
The New York Times: For Women With Early Breast Cancer, Herceptin Treatment Can Be Much Shorter
Over the past 20 years, hundreds of thousands of women with breast cancer have taken the drug Herceptin, typically for a year or more. The medicine, used to treat an aggressive form of the disease, is credited with saving many lives, but it also has some tough side effects, particularly damage to the heart. A large new study that followed thousands of women with early-stage breast cancer for a median of more than five years has found that those treated with Herceptin for only six months did just as well as those who got it for a year — and they suffered fewer side effects. (Grady, 5/16)
The Associated Press: Shorter Drug Treatment OK For Many Breast Cancer Patients
Herceptin transformed care of a dreaded disease when it was approved in 1998 for women with advanced breast cancers whose growth is aided by a faulty HER2 gene, as 15 percent to 20 percent of cases are. It was later approved for treatment of those cancers in earlier stages, too, based on studies that had tested it in patients for 12 months. That guess, that the drug should be taken for a year, became the standard of care. (Marchione, 5/16)
The Wall Street Journal: Reducing Use Of Roche Drug For Breast Cancer Didn’t Hurt Efficacy, Study Says
Still, there has been some debate among doctors over the optimal length of treatment with Herceptin. A Roche-sponsored study and one by the French National Cancer Institute, both released in 2012, suggested one year was best. But researchers have continued to study shorter durations. The U.K. researchers began their study in 2007. About half the women were assigned to receive six months of Herceptin treatment, and the other half 12 months. (Loftus, 5/16)
NPR: Breast Cancer Drug Herceptin May Work Just As Well With Much Briefer Treatment
Dr. Bruce Johnson, president of ASCO, said one benefit of this change would be to reduce the cost of treatment, both to women and to health insurers. "We think this is an important thing for the 12 percent of women who have early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer," he said. Even though the report covers the results after five years of study, there were relatively few deaths in either group, so researchers can't yet say for sure whether the long-term benefits are the same for the two treatment options. As a result, "it may be a bit early to make a definitive change in practice," Johnson said. (Harris, 5/16)
Bloomberg: Study Finds More Isn't Better For Roche Breast Cancer Drug
“Our field is maturing,” said Bruce Johnson, chief clinical research officer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, or ASCO. “When we didn’t have very many treatments that worked, we kind of threw the kitchen sink at it. We are beginning to learn we can change the status quo. We’ve been able to back off on some of the treatments.” (Cortez, 5/16)
