Irish women with breast cancer invited to take part in new clinical trial at DCU

Irish women with HER2-positive breast cancer are to be offered to take part in a clinical trial involving a new drug combination.

It is based on prior preclinical studies from Dublin City University (DCU).

The aim of the investigation is to improve on the response currently achieved with standard treatments.

Researchers at DCU’s National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology (NICB) have previously demonstrated the benefit of combining neratinib, an irreversible pan-HER kinase inhibitor, with standard HER2 antibody therapies, trastuzumab and pertuzumab, in laboratory models.

HER2-positive breast cancer accounts for around  560 of the 2,500 new breast cancer cases diagnosed in Ireland each year.

Around 15pc of these patients will develop metastatic disease. While the treatment options for patients where this disease has spread are successful for some, for many patients the disease returns.

Commenting on the upcoming clinical trial cancer spcialist  Prof JohnCrown said:“This Phase 1 clinical trial will be conducted in women who have metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.

“While women with this disease usually respond well initially to treatment, their response is typically not permanent and the disease will likely return. We hope that this drug combination will prolong the time until a women’s disease returns.

“This is an exciting accomplishment, as the trial is based on the work we conducted in our lab at DCU.”

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