GSK Brings New Hope to Advanced Breast Cancer Patients with breakthrough drug

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced today an important milestone for advanced breast cancer patients in the Philippines with the launch of lapatinib, a drug that has shown to significantly slow down the progression of advanced breast cancer which has progressed following treatment with other cancer therapies.

Taken orally, clinical trial data shows that this new medicine in combination with the drug capecitabine produced significant improvement in time to disease progression compared to capecitabine alone in patients with ErbB2 positive advanced breast cancer.

Because the data was compelling, the trial was stopped early to allow patients in the monotherapy group to gain benefit from the addition of this drug.

"‘Knowing you have cancer can be a very traumatic experience especially if it comes as a surprise” says Dr Joven Tanchuco, GSK Medical Director. “Therefore, new therapies that can prolong life without side effects offer precious hope to the patients."

This new drug is in a class of cancer treatments called targeted therapies which, unlike many of today’s standard treatments, are designed to attack the cancer cells specifically, while leaving normal cells unharmed. Such targeted therapies can possibly help limit side effects and make cancer treatments more tolerable.

The drug works by getting inside the cancer cell and inhibiting an enzyme called tyrosine kinase, one of the known factors responsible for tumor growth. This innovative mechanism of action is a new way to treat breast cancer and is different from current targeted therapies for ErbB2 positive disease.

This new drug has received Bureau of Food and Drug (BFAD) approval for use in combination with capecitabine, for the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer whose tumors overexpress ErbB2 (HER2) and have received prior therapy, including trastuzumab.

"Women with ErbB2 positive breast cancer are at a greater risk of disease progression and death compared to women with tumors that do not overexpress this protein. Thousands of women are diagnosed every year with ErbB2 positive breast cancer,” says Dr Noemi Alsay-Uy, President of the Philippine Society of Medical Oncology. “We welcome the approval of lapatinib in the Philippines as a treatment option for women who are suffering from ErbB2 positive breast cancer, a devastating disease.”

Based on clinical data, lapatinib, combined with capecitabine, has demonstrated superior efficacy over capecitabine alone in this group of patients.

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