Tykerb - How Does Tykerb Work

Tykerb for Breast Cancer - How does Tykerb work?
(Lapatinib for Breast Cancer)

Drug company Glaxo have been working on Tykerb for breast cancer and for other cancers for more than ten years.

We know that in about twenty five percent of women with breast cancer, their tumour growth is partly triggered by excessive amounts of a protein called HER2. These are the women who respond well to treatment with Herceptin.

The HER2 protein makes tumours grow by activating receptors on the cancer cell surface. There are two receptors that we know about and they are called ErbB1 and ErbB2.
Herceptin blocks the ErbB2 receptor but Tykerb blocks both.

Tykerb can be taken as a pill every day. Herceptin needs to be given as an IV infusion on a regular basis.

Studies so far seem to suggest that Herceptin can't enter the brain and thus can't treat or prevent breast cancer tumors that spread to the brain. Herceptin also has been found to cause heart problems in about 2 percent to 3 percent of women.

Early studies seem to show that Tykerb can enter the brain and researchers hope to show that taking it can reduce the frequency of breast cancer spreading to the brain - called brain metastases. More work on this is still needed before we can be sure.

As with all new drugs it seems wise to draw hope from these new studies - but we should all keep a degree of doubt until the drugs have been in use for a few years and until more information is available.

Read more here

Gordon