Health knowledge made personal
Join this community!
› Share page: Email Digg del.icio.us Reddit icon StumbleUpon Technorati
Go
Search posts:

Mark Pool, MD's Twitter Updates

Low-cost, mini microscope geared toward global health http://t.co/gL4ZxfI via @addthis 265 days ago
CDC warns of rising spread of babesiosis through blood transfusions http://t.co/lTwKaKL 265 days ago
Very disappointing study, scary how decisions based on so few #s: Cancer trial participation less than 1% http://t.co/RhY7Mkg via @addthis 276 days ago
You may have already seen blog @ Digital Pathology Blog but check out the Pathology Visions Conference-should be great! http://t.co/TVW0M7P 279 days ago
WCLC 2011 Oral Presentations: (More) Genomics http://t.co/xIOaw9j 279 days ago
 

Trastumuzab approved for treatment of HER2-positive

Posted Mar 01 2010 10:20am

from primeLines :

"On December 17, 2009, Roche’s trastuzumab (Herceptin®) received a positive recommendation from the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) for use in combination with standard chemotherapy for the treatment of previously untreated patients with HER2-positive metastatic adenocarcinoma of the stomach or gastroesophageal junction. The positive opinion for this new indication was issued in record time due to high unmet medical need and data from the ToGA trial (my emphasis), which demonstrated an increase in overall survival (OS) for patients with advanced HER2-positive gastric cancer who received trastuzumab plus chemotherapy (intravenous fluorouracil or capecitabine and cisplatin) compared to chemotherapy alone."

I have done the immunostain for HER2 routinely on the last few gastric adenocarcinomas diagnosed since I blogged about the ToGA trial and HER2 in gastric cancer last year.  The rapidity of this recommendation is similar to what occurred with cetuximab/panitumumab in colorectal cancer with wild-type KRAS.

I have not seen any guidelines regarding grading of the IHC stain nor recommendations regarding reflex FISH but have used the same criteria as for reporting HER2 by IHC in breast.  I must add that this is not considered "standard-of-care" at this point and that this has been initiated by me not our local oncologists.  This would be a good topic to discuss at your hospital's tumor board or cancer grand rounds.  I recently had a case of a gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma in which I did do HER2, so it is of note that this is approved for GEJ tumors as well.

Post a comment
Write a comment:

Related Searches