Why do they treat some woman with breast cancer with a drug called herceptin?!
Question: How does this drug work?
And how come they treat other women that have the same cancer with a drug called Tamoxifin, and both drugs work?
Why can't they treat all patients with the same cancer with the same drug?
Answers: How does this drug work?
And how come they treat other women that have the same cancer with a drug called Tamoxifin, and both drugs work?
Why can't they treat all patients with the same cancer with the same drug?
There are various targets in the cancer cells that these innovative drugs attack in the effort to kill the cancer cells or stop the cancer cells from growing further and hence allowing the body natural mechanism to eliminate old cells(apoptosis).
One such target is called a Hormone Receptor in the breast cancer cells,To be exact its the Estrogen Receptor(ER). The natural role of this ER is for the Estrogen to fit into it nicely and stimulate(switch on) the breast cells to grow and function. In breast cancer cells, the normal Estrogen in the blood would be attached to the ER and stimulate the cancer cells to grow more and hence the enlargement and spread of cancer cells. Tamoxifen is a drug that fit into the ER but instead of switching it on like Estrogen, it switches off the ER, thereby reducing the cells ability to function and grow. As a result, the cells can be attacked the body defence which result in cell death and hence cancer control.
The other target of attack on the breast cancer cells is the Antibody Receptor(Antigen). The well known antigen in the breast cancer cell is known as cERB2 receptor. By certain chemical and biological processing called DNA Engineering, an antibody has been created to attack this antigen and switch off the function of the breast cancer cells. Herceptin is the propreitory name of this antibody.
Patients are not all the same. Some breast cancer patient has ER positive but cERB2 negative on their cells-this patient would be given Tamoxifen but not Herceptin.
A patient with cERB2 positive but ER negative would be given Herceptin but not Tamoxifen.
If both are positives, the patient will get both treatment of Tamoxifen and Herceptin.
If both are negatives, then the patient will get neither.
Herceptin,and Tamoxifen are both a treatment regimen containing doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel, indicated for the adjuvant treatment of HER2-overexpressing breast cancer. They are basically a collection of the same drugs marketed under two different names, by two different drug companies
they treat patients with those drugs that they feel will work best, as no two women are the same, neither are breast cancers always the same, so the treatment regimens are different as well.
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The cancers are breast cancer because they are in the breast, but they are NOT the same cancer.
Tamoxifen and herceptin are completely different drugs, administered in different ways and designed to treat different sorts of cancer. Tamoxifen is a little pill you take daily. Herceptin is infused into a vein periodically. There is also another class of drugs called aromataze inhibitors.