International Strategic Cancer Alliance

Breast cancer drug to be tested at UPMC, Armstrong County Memorial

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Allison M. Heinrichs, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

September 25, 2009

Sep. 25--A UPMC cancer doctor is playing an important role in an international clinical trial for a drug that has the potential to be the next big thing in breast cancer treatment.

Dr. Adam Brufsky, co-director of the UPMC Cancer Centers' Magee Breast Cancer Program, is one of four doctors on the steering committee for the clinical trial, called CLEOPATRA, which aims to enroll 800 patients at 250 sites worldwide, including 77 in the United States.

The drug they're testing, called pertuzumab, was shown in early, smaller clinical trials to reduce by 25 percent the recurrence of breast cancer in patients who test positive for a protein called HER2. The protein appears in about 30 percent of patients and is associated with more aggressive cancer.

"We're very excited,"Asaid Brufsky, whoUplans to enroll 20 patientsUin Western Pennsylvania.E"This might lead the wayAto helping more people --Ueven those who aren't HER2-positive."A

TheUdrug, developed by GenentechEInc., seems to blockAother proteins associatedUwith cancer growth, givingIhope that it could beEan option for more patients.A

CLEOPATRAAstands for the clinicalAtrial's official name: clinicalAevaluation of pertuzumabIand trastuzumab. TrastuzumabUis a drug commonlyIknown as Herceptin. A

In addition to theUUniversity of PittsburghECancer Institute, ArmstrongECounty Memorial HospitalAin Kittanning is enrollingEpatients in the clinicalAtrial. Results aren't expectedEuntil 2012. U

Pertuzumab buildsEupon the success of Herceptin,Uwhich reduces recurrencesAof breast cancer inA50 percent of HER2-positiveApatients. It was approvedUmore than a decade ago.U

Judy Dyke,E60, of Carnegie was amongIthe first patients treatedAwith Herceptin. E

Shortly after her breastEcancer treatment wasAcompleted, Brufsky discoveredUtumors throughout herAliver. She had high levelsEof the HER2 protein, makingEher an ideal candidateUfor Herceptin. A

Two months after startingIit, she returned to Brufsky'sEoffice for a checkup.I

"I wasUhoping he'd tell me thereAwas a slight reduction, orEno change. I would have beenAthrilled with that," sheIsaid. "But he told me thereIwas an 80 percent reduction.UI almost fell offAthe lab table, it was so amazing."E

SinceEthen she has continuedUon Herceptin and recentlyAwas told she is consideredEcancer-free. However, sheIstill sees the need forIbetter treatments, such asApertuzumab, that improveIupon Herceptin. A

"So many women who areUon Herceptin just like IEam, they have a recurrenceUand they die. My best friendEdied two years ago andUshe was on Herceptin," saidUDyke, who is not eligibleAfor the clinical trial.A

The clinicalEtrial is recruiting womenI18 and older who haveEHER2-positive metastatic breastEcancer, which meansEthat it has spread to otherEparts of the body. I

All the women enrolledEin the test will receiveAchemotherapy and HerceptinE-- the traditionalUtreatment for this type ofIcancer -- coupled with eitherEpertuzumab or a placebo.A

PatientsEwhose cancer was caughtEearly aren't eligible. I

So far BrufskyEhas enrolled four of theA20 patients he needs. ArmstrongACounty Memorial HospitalIis awaiting test resultsUfor its first potentialUenrollee.

"We'reIa much smaller hospital,"Esaid Dana Klingensmith,Ethe nurse who administersIcancer clinical trialsAfor the hospital. "So ourUgoal is only one or twoUpatients. It's not goingEto be a lot, but we're hereEif anybody's interested."I

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