However, there are additional options available for women who aren’t post-menopausal. For these women, a drug class known as SERMs are a viable treatment option. Drugs in this class bind to estrogen receptors and act both as an agonist and antagonist in that they suppress estrogen production in the breast, but can mimic its production in other parts of the body like the uterus. Perhaps the most famous SERM is AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN)’s Tamoxifen, which, in generic forms today, is still widely used.
Late-stage treatments
Next to preventative diagnostics, perhaps the biggest moves by pharmaceutical companies with regard to breast cancer are being made in late-stage therapies. Roche Holding Ltd. (VTX:ROG)‘s Herceptin is a staple among the physicians with regard to treating metastatic breast cancer. Between Herceptin — which is actually approved by the FDA to treat early and late-stage breast cancer — and Perjeta, which was approved last June in combination with Herceptin and docetaxel, Roche Holding Ltd. (VTX:ROG) is working vigilantly to extend patients’ progression-free survival and quality of life.
A new type of treatment that involves utilizing antibodies to carry toxins also shows plenty of promise. These antibodies work by releasing a toxin once they come into contact with very specific protein signatures released by the targeted cancer cells, and could be the key to targeted cancer treatments. One example is Roche Holding Ltd. (VTX:ROG) and ImmunoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN)‘s Kadcyla, which was approved by the FDA in February as a second-line treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer. The drug combines the HER2 protein-blocking power of Herceptin and uses ImmunoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN)’s targeted antibody payload technology to deliver the chemotherapy agent directly to the cancer cells. With minimal healthy tissue death, Kadcyla improved progression-free survival and median overall survival by 3.2 months and 5.8 months, respectively, as compared to another current standard of treatment, which is GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK)‘s and Roche Holding Ltd. (VTX:ROG)’s Xeloda.
Even further down the road, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)‘s Palbociclib, a clinical-stage therapy that received the rare breakthrough therapy designation earlier this year, could be a game-changer. In mid-stage trials as a first-line treatment for patients with ER+, HER2- locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, and in combination with Novartis AG (ADR) (NYSE:NVS)’ Femara, Palbociclib more than tripled progression-free survival to 26.1 months from 7.5 months.
In sum, genetic testing is getting faster and cheaper; pharmaceutical drug delivery, targeting, and effectiveness are getting better; and the side effects associated with chemotherapy agents aren’t worsening.
The battle for social awareness
Awareness and being proactive are half the battle when it comes to fighting breast cancer.
In terms of cancer-related deaths, breast cancer will claim more women’s lives per year than lung and bronchus cancer, colon and rectum cancer, and corpus and uterus cancer… combined! And those are the second, third, and fourth most-deadly cancers for women, respectively.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This is how much of a concern breast cancer is for women and all the more reason why social awareness, like the type we witnessed from Angelina Jolie this week, is needed to bring this danger to light.
Regardless of how you feel about Angelina Jolie the actress, her courage in sharing her medical struggles — knowing well that she’s a highly followed public figure — has created a scenario where women should be encouraged to get preventative breast cancer screenings and/or diagnostic testing. The purpose of Jolie’s op-ed was the hope that “other women can benefit from my experience.” I feel pretty confident that Jolie’s hope will be translated into reality as we move forward.
The article Angelina Jolie’s Selfless Act Heightens Breast Cancer Awareness originally appeared on Fool.com is written by Sean Williams.
Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool recommends ImmunoGen.
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