Last Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug to treat breast cancer, so what are its details? And what are its features? Will it have an effect and use in the treatment of other cancers?
We directed these questions to a hematologist and oncologist in Chicago, Dr. Basil Al-Atassi, who holds the American Board of Internal Medicine, in addition to his specialization in both hematology and oncology.
The new drug is called fam-trastuzumab- deruxtecan -nxki, also known as Enhertu.
Dr. Al-Atassi affirms that "this is a very important event that will increase the number of patients who will benefit from these drugs who suffer from metastatic breast cancer, and will open the way for new studies that allow the use of these drugs in the early stages of the disease."
What is Inherto?
Dr. Al-Atassi said that Enherto is a chemotherapy that is given every 3 weeks to breast cancer patients, and it is a class of chemotherapy drugs directed against mutations or the “HER2” receptors (HER2) found on cancer cells.
How is Inherto given?
This drug is given intravenously.
Symptoms of breast cancer Infographic Infographic Infographic
Who is given the drug Inherto?
Inherto is given to patients with 'unresectable' or 'metastatic' HER2 breast cancer.
What is hare type 2 breast cancer?
According to the Mayo Clinic website, HER2 -positive breast cancer is breast cancer diagnosed with a positive result for a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), an acronym for this name.
This protein stimulates the growth of cancer cells. HER2-positive breast cancers are usually more aggressive than other types of breast cancer, and therapies that specifically target HER2 are so effective that they show a very good prognosis for the disease.
What breast cancers is Inherto approved for treatment?
Al-Atassi added that these drugs are usually given to patients with metastatic breast cancer (stage IV), and they are among the many chemical drugs that have been proven effective in this disease.
Prior to this study, the use of this drug was limited only to those who have "Hair 2" receptors, which are high in "immunostaining" in histopathology "+3".
Now, with the new study, this drug has proven its efficacy in those who have low efficacy in immunostaining "+1, +2".
What do we mean by immunofluorescence?
Immunostaining is a way to see if a tumor has too much hare2 receptor protein on the surface of the cancer cells. With too many hare2 receptors, the cells receive too many signals telling them to grow and divide.
The ImmunoHistoChemistry is used to measure immunostaining, which gives a score of 0 to +3, and measures the amount of the HER2 receptor protein on the surface of cells in a sample of breast cancer tissue.
If the result is from 0 to +1, it is called “Hare 2” negative, and if it is 2+, it is called “borderline”, and the result 3+ is called “Hare 2” positive, according to the “Brest Cancer.org” website. ( breastcancer.org).
What is the nature of the studies conducted on it and their results?
The study is called "Destiny Breast04", and it included 557 breast cancer patients of different ages and from different countries of the world.
For patients who had low (+1, +2) HER2-positive receptors, the results of the study showed that the new treatment increased survival times.
How much does treatment cost?
The price of the drug in America per dose is about 10 thousand dollars.
Will Inherto's treatment have an effect and use in the treatment of other cancers?
The same drug is now also used in other cancers such as lung, colon, and stomach, who have stage 4 cancer (disseminated cancer) and have HER2+3 positive receptors. But this trial will give an opportunity to conduct clinical trials in those cancers who have positive receptors "+1, +2" and "Hair-2".
What are the side effects of Inherto?
The most common side effects in patients receiving Inherto in the trial were:
Nausea
Tired.
Vixen.
Vomiting;
Constipation;
Decreased appetite;
Musculoskeletal pain.
Diarrhea.
Inherto is not recommended for pregnant women.
In conclusion, Dr. Al-Atassi stresses that it is important to focus on the fact that these drugs are used only by specialists in the field of cancer treatment and in specialized centers. And that the centers be equipped with pathologists who are knowledgeable in diagnosing, immunostaining, and interpreting their results.(Al Jazeera)
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HEALTH UPDATE