Clinical development of trastuzumab in breast cancer

• Published in: Breast cancer (Tokyo, Japan) Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 93 - 97
• Main Authors: Tokuda, Y, Ohta, M, Suzuki, Y, Kubota, M, Tajima, T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan 2001
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies, Monoclonal - therapeutic use; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy; Breast Neoplasms - therapy; Clinical Trials as Topic; Combined Modality Therapy; Humans; Immunotherapy; Trastuzumab
• ISSN: 1340-6868; 1880-4233
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02967486

The HER-2/neu protein is thought to be a unique and useful target for antibody therapy of cancers overexpressing the HER-2/neu gene. The recombinant humanized anti-HER-2 monoclonal antibody, trastuzumab (Herceptin) is now available for clinical use in the U.S.A. It is also expected to be available in Japan in the near future. In this paper, the details of this novel biologic agent are reviewed in conjunction with a phase I study performed in Japan.