A new drug has
been combined with a chemotherapy drug, emtansine it is aimed at helping
patients with HER2 – positive breast cancer. This form of breast cancer is known
for being very aggressive. This drug is capable of helping to treat the breast
cancer and having a less toxic effect on the body. The drug is helping patients
with this form of breast cancer to live their lives more normally, they feel
better than they would if they had chemo and in some cases have even been able
to keep their hair, which is rare when using chemotherapy of any kind. The name
of this drug is Kadcyla or TDM-1.
TDM-1 combines
Traztuzumab or Herceptin with emtansine. Emtansine is a well known powerful
chemotherapy drug. TDM-1 is currently being referred to as “Super Herceptin”
because it is proving to be stronger and less toxic than the usual process used
to fight that particular type of cancerous tumor. Not only is this drug less
toxic and more effective, but it is more effective in the long run too. So far
it has proved to have a longer lasting effect than the standard procedure. A
comparison between TDM-1 and the usual routine showed that TDM-1 causes a
patient to stay cancer free for an average of 9.6 months, while the regular
routine (two cancer fighting drugs that were unnamed in the article) provided
only 6.4 months of life cancer free. This drug is an important breakthrough in
science.
A very
interesting aspect about this drug is that it specifically kills the proteins
that help to reproduce this type of cancer. Herceptin, part of TDM-1 was
capable of hunting down and then interfering with cancer cells, while chemotherapy
drugs (such as emtansine) can kill it, combined they are a great pair. Just as
it sounds TDM-1 does both these things, it goes straight to the cells with
cancer, due to the Herceptin part of it, and then the emtansine part of the
drug kills the cancer. It also works from the inside out; the cell with the
cancerous protein first eats the TDM-1. After this the TDM-1 is released inside
the cell and destroys it, killing the cancer. This is so important because
usually chemotherapy drugs aren’t as exact, they can kill cancer, but it is
easy for them to kill healthy cells too.
There are always
problems with new drugs, that’s undeniable, however this is definitely a break
through. Being able to specifically target the problem cells and kill them
without causing harm to the healthy cells is important, it could change the way
cancer is handled, and change the lives of cancer patients. Obviously a person
who can feel healthier while they are fighting cancer, because the drugs they
are taking are less toxic, will be a happier person in the long run. I
personally do not see any problems with this drug, the FDA even recently approved
it. However, this fix is only for one specific type of cancer. It’s a breakthrough,
but it would be so much better if it could be expanded on soon for other types
of cancers. Also, will it be easy for the cancer cells to become immune to it?
Because it is capable of fighting aggressive cancer, maybe it will be even more
effective when it comes to slower moving cancers, but then again that has to be
developed, tested, everything, a long process awaits for this to become a more
usable popular cancer fighting drug. How many types of cancer are there, aren’t
there constantly new ones being discovered, or ones developing slight mutations
over time? It will take more time to see if those treated with this new drug
will have reactions to it later, or how much longer it will last effectively.
As for now we can only hope for the best, and that new advances based off this
drug will be made.
