14 DAY TRIAL // A team of experts from the University of California in Irvine announces the creation of a new therapy against breast cancer, which is highly effective, and which relies on existing drugs and procedures.
The optimized systemic treatment was developed by oncology expert Dr. Rita Mehta some 7 years ago, and it showed remarkable results over time.
It was originally tested on five women who had advanced stages of breast cancer, and months later the tumors receded. All participants were cured by using the drug trastuzumab (trade name Herceptin) and chemotherapy.
Mehta, who holds an appointment as a UCI health sciences associate professor of medicine at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, says that this was “the kind of moment everyone lives for.”
The expert applied her approach before patients underwent surgery, which is uncommon. Generally, oncologists prefer to start using chemotherapy and other drugs after tumors are surgically removed.
“The tumors were disappearing before our very eyes,” says the expert, recalling how she and her team were looking at breast scans after applying the treatment.
“When we reviewed the fifth patient's scans, we realized we had a 100 percent response rate. That's when I knew the treatment wasn't just a fluke,” she adds.
“I felt like someone from the future. I used this treatment before it became standard procedure because I knew it saved lives,” Mehta adds.
At this point, the expert is continuing to carry out innovative research in this field, constantly incorporation new biological agents into chemotherapy, and conducting trials to test their efficiency.
The scientist recently told colleagues gathered at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology that patients with stage II and III breast cancers showed the highest rate of recovery with the new therapy.
“I'm looking for the characteristics in tumors that make patients respond to certain drugs,” Mehta said.
“The preoperative setting is perfect for these studies, because in postoperative patients you've already removed the tumor. You're targeting cells you cannot see. But if there's a tumor there in front of you, you can see if a drug works,” she added,
“In many cases, the tumors disappeared entirely. We had complete responses [no microscopic evidence of cancer] in four to five months,” Mehta now says.
“Patients would have surgery, and doctors couldn't find the tumors because they were gone. Many who would have had a mastectomy were able to have a lumpectomy instead,” she concludes.