Feb 23, 2006

Taxotere Beats Navelbine

Taxotere is more effective than Navelbine in the adjuvant treatment of women with history of breast cancer. A new study, which compared these two drugs, showed docetaxel (Taxotere) would beat vinorelbine (Navelbine), in a head-to-head comparison.

This new study comes from Finland and is published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The study also found that patients who received nine weeks infusions of trastuzumab (Herceptin) were less likely to have disease recurrences with no increase in cardiac toxicity compared to those who did not receive Herceptin.

Treatment with Taxotere translated into a 42 percent reduction in the risk of breast cancer recurrences compared to treatment with Navelbine in the adjuvant setting. However, this comes with a price: women treated with docetaxel had more side effects compared to those who received vinorelbine such as allergic reactions, swelling and fever.

For this large study, Joensuu and his colleagues randomly assigned more than a thousand women with breast cancer three cycles of either docetaxel or vinorelbine, followed by three cycles of other cancer drugs.

Those patients, who had overexpression of HER2/neu gene (numbering 232), were also assigned either to receive nine weeks infusions of Herceptin or a placebo. Those who received the Herceptin had 58 percent reduction in cancer recurrences during the three-year follow-up compared to those who didn't get the drug.

Previous studies have shown that administration of adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin) for one year reduces the risk of breast cancer recurrence by about 50 percent in those women who have HER2 over expression. Those studies also found Herceptin to be related to increased risk heart problems. The current study with the shorter duration of Herceptin showed 58 percent reduction in cancer recurrence with no significant cardiac toxicity.

Sherin      

Do You Read All Of Our Cancer Blogs?

Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Emily and other bloggers and they bring you the latest stories, news and events that are related to breast cancer. Increasing awareness about breast cancer among women and in the general population is the main goal of this breast cancer blog.

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

Medicineworld.org publishes a diabetes watch blog and this blog is run by JoAnn other bloggers. This diabetes watch blog brings you the latest in the field of diabetes. This includes personal stories, advances in diagnosis and treatment, and other observations about diabetes. Improving awareness about diabetes is an important mission of this group.

Janet      

Breast cancer
Every year, more than 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. Breast cancer ranks second as the leading cause of cancer deaths in American women. Until recently breast cancer topped the list of leading causes of cancer deaths in women, but lately lung cancer has claimed the top position. If skin cancer is excluded, breast cancer is the commonest cancer among American women.