Researchers revealed that a drug manufactured by Swiss pharmaceutical company, Roche has remarkably extended the lives of breast cancer patients during a clinical trial. 

During an annual meeting held at the European Society for Medical Oncology in Madrid, researchers have declared that Roche's Perjeta when taken by breast cancer patients along with chemotherapy and another medicine that treats breast cancer called Herceptin have siginificantly prolonged the patients' lives by 16 months, as opposed to patients who only received chemotherapy and Herceptin.

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The clinical trial involved some 808 patients with HER2 positive breast cancer which makes up 25 percent of all breast cancer cases.These patients were observed to have a longer survival rate especially since Perjeta is used for treating breast cancer in the metastatic stage where it has already spread to the different organs of the body.

According to lead researcher David Miles from the Mount Vernon Cancer Center, the results were remarkable since this is already an advanced type of cancer and a difficult kind to treat.

Some drugs were only known to lengthen the lives of patients who have metastatic cancer for a few months. But in this particular clinical trial for Perjeta, the results were impressive as these patients have extended their survival rate by 15.7 months.

Some 20 percent of breast cancer type possess the protein HER2 which promotes the spread of cancer cells. This is where Herceptin is recommended to be used as treatment along with Perjeta.

However, during the trial, patients encountered side effects that include diarrhea, rashes and lower white blood cell count.

Perjeta has been already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2012. Now, this study can further boost effective breast cancer treatment in an unprecedented rate.

TagsBreast Cancer Drug Perjeta Can Prolong Cancer Patient Lives by 16 Months, HER2 breast cancer treatment, perjeta, roche, breast cancer perjeta roche, herceptin