Glaxo cancer drug shows more brain benefits

LONDON: GlaxoSmithKline announced further clinical trial results on Sunday underlining the ability of a drug combination including its product Tykerb to fight breast cancer that has spread to the brain.

An extension to an earlier Phase II study involving 49 patients showed 20% of those receiving a mix of Tykerb and Roche’s Xeloda experienced at least a 50% volume reduction in measurable brain metastases.

The finding is significant because up to a third of women with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer may develop brain metastases, which occur when cancer spreads from its original site.

The results were presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, Texas.