E
ach year, breast cancer is diagnosed in more than one million women. Faced with this scourge, several new weapons have been presented at the congress of the ASCO 2008.Each year, breast cancer is responsible for over 400 000 deaths worldwide. New combinations now offer hope for curbing the development of more advanced cancers and reduce the risk of recurrence.
New combination to curb the development of cancer
The Avastin ® is a drug blocking the formation of blood vessels needed for tumor growth. This mechanism is common to various types of cancer cells, it is already used to facing colon cancer, lung, kidney and breast.
The study AVADO made in 2008 shows classic chemotherapy (docetaxel - Taxotere ®), it has helped slow the progression of advanced breast cancer. This is the last step before an application for marketing in this indication.
The work focused on 736 women during nearly a year and show that 44.4% of participants treated with Taxotere + placebo saw their tumors shrink, compared to 63.1% for those who received Taxotere in addition to the Avastin (at a dose of 15mg/kg).
The main side effect of this association was hypertension, which could be easily treated. For now, this trial is too short (one year) to show a difference in survival, the first data are expected for 2009.
"This study demonstrates that anti-angiogenic approach to treat breast cancer is effective with Taxol or Taxotere®" said Dr. David Miles professor of oncology at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Britain, lead author of the study .
Indeed, these data confirm the study with Taxol (paclitaxel - more commonly used Outre-Atlantique), which had shown a doubling of the recurrence-free survival of patients with advanced cancer who have breast cancer.
