Breakthrough researchers have found a protein that could predict which patients will benefit from breast cancer drug Herceptin (trastuzumab).
About one in four breast cancers are HER2 positive. This means they tend to grow faster and are more likely to return after treatment. The frontline treatment is Herceptin which targets the HER2 protein found in these tumours.
But resistance to the drug Herceptin is a real problem − it works for less than half the people with HER2 positive breast cancer. And for others, it can gradually stop working during treatment. This can lead to breast cancer returning.
Now researchers in Edinburgh have pinpointed a protein called Sprouty2 which could be used to spot precisely which women will benefit from Herceptin and which won’t.
The study was published by science journal PLos ONE in August.
