Info on Prescription Drugs - Herceptin Approved by FDA
Get instant savings up to 75%
Download the Free PrescriptionDrugs.com Discount Drug Card
Print Card
Redeem for instant savings up to 75% on name brand
& generic prescription drugs
Accepted at over 60,000 pharmacies nationwide
Info on Prescription Drugs - Herceptin, a drug used to help treat cancer of the stomach, has received approval by the FDA. The drug has been designed to be used by patients who suffer from HER2-positive metastatic cancer who have not been administered any other medication for their treatment. Info on prescription drugs, especially Herceptin, has been somewhat unavailable considering stomach cancer affects relatively few patients in the U.S., yet it is the leading cause of cancer death in many other parts of the world.
Herceptin was approved in the EU, by the European Commission back in January 2010. The drug’s Phase III trials showed positive results, prompting the FDA to approve the drug. Patients with HER2-positive cancer of the stomach who were administered Herceptin, and who were also undergoing chemotherapy at the same time, lived longer than those who only received chemotherapy treatment.
Info on Prescription Drugs - How the Study was Carried Out
The study, which included some 594 patients with HER2-positive metastatic cancer, chose patients at random to receive either chemotherapy treatment alone, or chemotherapy in combination with Herceptin. The results revealed that Herceptin, when mixed with chemotherapy, improved survival among those taking part in the trial by a significant 37%, compared to those that only underwent chemotherapy.
Patients with tumors who exhibited particularly high levels of HER2 benefitted even greater from Herceptin – the results showed an average survival of 16 months whilst taking Herceptin, compared to just 11.8 months for patients who underwent chemotherapy without the drug.
Herceptin works by targeting and blocking HER2, which is produced by a problematic gene that has a tendency to cause cancer. Herceptin is unique among drugs, because it boosts the body’s immune system, suppressing HER2 as it targets the tumor and ultimately aims to destroy it. Hal Barron, the chief medical officer of Genentech Inc., a U.S. unit of Switzerland-based Roche, say's " today's approval of Herceptin in combination with chemotherapy provides an important new, personalized medicine for people with this life-threatening disease who have few treatment options," .
Consult the conditions and popular drugs list for more info on prescription drugs.
