Latest news with #Perjeta
New Indian Express
14-07-2025
- New Indian Express
Capital's deadly dose of deception
Delhi has long stood as a beacon of modern healthcare. The national capital is home to gleaming hospitals, internationally trained specialists and cutting-edge treatments. Its medical tourism industry draws patients from every corner of India and beyond. Cancer care in the city is considered among the best in the country, renowned for its precise surgical procedures, immunotherapy, targeted drugs, multidisciplinary tumor boards and clinical trials. For many, the city offers hope where once only despair ruled. But behind the shiny facades of these world-class medical institutions lies a dangerous and dark underbelly: a sprawling counterfeit drug network that has infiltrated the very supply chains that patients trust with their lives. These are not mere cheap knock-offs; these are criminal deceptions that put patients at grave risk, especially those battling life-threatening illnesses like cancer.. The Crackdown In June, the Delhi drugs control department executed a citywide operation that uncovered the depth of the problem. Over 160 samples of suspected cancer medications were seized—many lacked proper documentation or bore suspicious markings. This comes as a suo motu action after Delhi Police busted a well-organized racket allegedly responsible for selling fake and unauthorised cancer drugs to patients. Within days, six individuals were arrested. The raids took place in Laxmi Nagar, Budh Vihar, and Chandni Chowk—areas selected for their proximity to major medical institutions such as AIIMS, Safdarjung, Lok Nayak, and Rajiv Gandhi hospitals. The haul recovered from one raid included vials worth `2.15 crore, 519 empty vials labelled as Keytruda, Infinzi, Tecentriq, Perjeta, Opdyta, Darzalex; 864 empty packaging cartons; along with packets of counterfeit solutions.
Malay Mail
11-06-2025
- Health
- Malay Mail
Cancer Diaries: Cancer-free for now but the journey isn't over
JUNE 11 — I never thought I would have something in common with Jamal Yunos but here it is — our cancer treatments worked. Unlike Jamal, I don't have to deal with pending court judgements but also have quite a bit more treatment to go. The pathology report from my surgery, from testing the lesion and lymph nodes removed, show no residual cancer. I knew the odds of this happening was only 50/50 because hormone-positive tumours don't always respond well to chemotherapy but mine did. It also meant all the effort put into crowdfunding for the (very expensive) drug Perjeta was not for naught and neither were the frequent hospital trips, the constant stabbing of needles, losing my hair and discovering just how far my pain tolerance stretched. I'm not out of the woods yet as I have another 13 cycles of Herceptin to endure, which will be administered every three weeks. Going nuclear (literally) There will be another appointment soon to prepare me for radiotherapy and that will start in a month or so. I found it very humorous that my oncologist as well as the nice staffers in radiology asked me if I could raise my arms — this is the gauge for how well I can endure the treatment. My physiotherapist was also surprised I had near-full range of motion in my arms because my legs are a whole other story. He said my calves and hips were very stiff, and I needed to put work into strengthening my glute muscles as well as do more exercises involving my shoulder blades. As of now getting up or out of a seat requires a quick prayer, a sharp inhale and resigning myself to painful, awkward hobbling. Still, at least I won't be having periods as I am now on the estrogen suppressant drug Tamoxifen, which means I am in a chemically induced menopause. This would perhaps be devastating for a much younger woman or one hoping to conceive, but I am at the age where I will only want to hold a baby if I can give it back. I have also been irritable and prone to sensory overload since I was a small child so I often joke that I would be little different come menopause. Chemotherapy has also made me rather heat intolerant to the point I won't be able to tell if I'm having a hot flash or if it's just Malaysian weather. While I come across as being rather blasé, there is a real need for women to be given better advice on how to deal with perimenopause and what comes after. Reddit has informed me that it's not just our hormones changing — menopausal women face changes to their genitalia including, sometimes, the complete disappearance of the labia minora. At the same time I wistfully daydream about flying somewhere, anywhere just to clear my head but with a new Covid variant (again) and my legs made of lead, I think next year is a safer bet.— AFP pic I'm not going to explain what that is, look it up. To have cancer and also be dealing with induced menopause would be hard on any woman so if you know someone going through it, please be kind. I'm still on hospitalisation leave and while my surgery incision is healing well, I'm still not very mobile. There are many questions I would love to ask my body. Why is the arm on the side that doesn't have cancer less mobile than the cancer-affected side? I wake up every morning with my arms sore as though I spent the entire day before working on my butterfly stroke. Why is my ankle swollen? Why are my eyelashes and nose hair still not growing back though the top of my head now feels like a kiwi fruit, coated with downy short hairs? At the same time I wistfully daydream about flying somewhere, anywhere just to clear my head but with a new Covid variant (again) and my legs made of lead, I think next year is a safer bet. My knees are currently vetoing even the thought of visiting my favourite cafe in Melaka as I find even my purse too heavy to carry around. Next week I'll be seeing my surgeon for the usual hospital adventure where I wait two hours to see a doctor for 10 minutes. For now, though, life is as good as it gets, my cat has forgiven me and is back to yelling at me for treats, and I feel as ever, very lucky, very blessed and very grateful. Thank you for coming along on the journey and your support, whatever form it took. * This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Enhertu potential broadens as new data point to frontline breast cancer role
This story was originally published on BioPharma Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily BioPharma Dive newsletter. CHICAGO — Enhertu, the antibody-drug conjugate developed by AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo, year by year proves more indispensable in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Already enmeshed in clinical practice as a go-to choice for tumors that have come back once, Enhertu could soon have a role to play in initial treatment as well. On Monday, researchers shared results from a large trial showing Enhertu together with an older drug called Perjeta offer greater benefit in certain tumors than the current first-line standard, which includes Perjeta, the stalwart breast cancer drug Herceptin and chemotherapy. The data will be presented Monday morning at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting held here. Known as Destiny-Breast09, the Phase 3 trial focused on people whose breast tumors were either locally advanced or had metastasized, and tested positive for a protein, HER2, that typically signals faster-spreading cancer. About 15% to 20% of breast cancers are HER2-positive and for decades now have been treated by Herceptin, Perjeta and other treatments that home in on the protein. Enhertu is one of the newest — and most powerful — iterations. It consists of a HER2-targeting antibody linked to a tumor-killing toxin. Since winning its first U.S. approval in 2019, the drug has marched upwards through breast cancer treatment lines and into new uses in lung and stomach cancers. Last year, sales reached $3.7 billion. Sales could rise further should findings from Destiny-Breast09 support frontline use in HER2-positive metastatic disease. In the trial, treatment with Enhertu and Perjeta delayed cancer growth for longer than the established regimen of Perjeta, Herceptin and chemotherapy, which is known by the acronym THP. Progression-free survival, which measures time from treatment to disease progression or death, reached a median of nearly 41 months among the 383 patients who received Enhertu and Perjeta, versus 27 months among the 387 given THP. 'That's a phenomenal advantage in progression-free survival and it's definitely practice-changing,' said Vishwanath Sathyanarayanan, a medical oncologist and an academic advisor at Apollo Hospitals in Bangalore, India. Eleonora Teplinsky, head of breast and gynecologic medical oncology at New Jersey's Valley-Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Care, agreed, although she cautioned that Enhertu comes with its own safety risks. 'While keeping an eye on [Enhertu's] toxicity, it's really hard to ignore that data.' About 15% of patients given Enhertu plus Perjeta had a complete response following treatment — meaning no detectable signs of cancer — versus 8.5% among those on THP. Researchers could not yet statistically determine whether the Enhertu regimen offered a benefit in survival, but reported that data are trending in that direction. Patients will continue to be monitored for further analysis later. AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo, which announced Destiny-Breast09 succeeded in late April, have said they plan to share the trial data with regulators. But they haven't clarified when they might seek an approval of Enhertu as part of first-line treatment. Should it win an OK, doctors will have to grapple with a number of trade-offs and unanswered questions, not least of which are Enhertu's side effects. The drug's current labeling carries a 'black box' warning for interstitial lung disease and pneumonitis, which can be life-threatening. In Destiny-Breast09, this side effect occurred in 46 patients treated with Enhertu and Perjeta, compared to only 4 who received THP. While most cases were mild, two of the Enhertu-treated patients died. Most participants in the trial were under 65 years old. As a result, Teplinsky said, it is not clear how well older patients might fare with Enhertu and Perjeta in the first-line setting. Results from another study presented at ASCO suggest that, in mild cases of interstitial lung disease, Enhertu can be reintroduced after the side effect has been brought under control. Moving Enhertu earlier in treatment also raises questions about how long it should be given and, if patients' disease progresses, what should be administered afterwards. 'Is this for all patients at the beginning of treatment? We don't know,' said Rebecca Dent, the deputy clinical chief executive officer at National Cancer Center Singapore, in a press conference with reporters. 'Is there a way to sequence this induction therapy that includes [Enhertu] followed by a maintenance stage of treatment?' Destiny-Breast09 is also evaluating a third group of 387 patients who were given only Enhertu and a placebo. Researchers didn't yet have sufficient data to compare that arm to the other two when they conducted their initial, interim analysis. Evidence supporting Enhertu monotherapy over THP would be significant if it materializes, said Sathyanarayanan, who noted that giving multiple, expensive drugs in combination can be challenging in low- and middle-income countries. AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo are studying Enhertu in even earlier settings, testing whether it could be given before or after surgery to remove a tumor. Last month, the companies said a study called Destiny-Breast11 succeeded, finding Enhertu followed by THP improved complete response rates versus standard of care when used before surgery. And in stomach cancer, study data presented at ASCO on Saturday could help cement Enhertu's place as a second-line treatment option for gastric tumors. Recommended Reading At ASCO, Enhertu cements growing role in stomach cancer care
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Roche reports final overall survival outcomes from breast cancer treatment trial
Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche has reported final overall survival outcomes from a long-term Phase III trial of Perjeta (pertuzumab) with Herceptin (trastuzumab) and chemotherapy for treating breast cancer. The randomised APHINITY trial assessed the combination's efficacy and safety against those of Herceptin and chemotherapy in 4,804 subjects with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive early-stage breast cancer. Its primary goal was to measure invasive disease-free survival, which the study defines as the time a patient lives with no recurrence of invasive breast cancer or mortality from any cause after the surgery, over ten years. Results from the study showed a 17% decrease in the mortality risk for the Perjeta-based regimen-treated subjects versus those who received Herceptin, chemotherapy and placebo. Of the subjects given Perjeta, 91.6% were still alive after ten years, compared with 89.8% in the other group. The company also reported a 21% decrease in mortality risk in subjects with lymph node-positive disease. Perjeta's safety profile, including cardiac safety, was found to be consistent with prior studies, without any new safety concerns observed. In addition, the drug's previously reported invasive disease-free survival benefit was maintained with a hazard ratio of 0.79, complementing outcomes from previous APHINITY analyses, without any benefits observed in the node-negative subgroup. Roche global product development head and chief medical officer Levi Garraway said: 'Early treatment of breast cancer can provide substantial patient benefit and also increases the chance for cure. 'For people with early-stage HER2-positive disease, the APHINITY results validate the sustained benefits of the Perjeta-based regimen.' Roche said that its work with BIG and other trial partners had enabled studies such as HERA and APHINITY, which have reportedly led to Perjeta and Herceptin becoming standard-of-care treatments. The Perjeta-based regimen has so far received approval in more than 120 countries for treating early-stage and metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. "Roche reports final overall survival outcomes from breast cancer treatment trial" was originally created and published by Clinical Trials Arena, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Malay Mail
30-04-2025
- Health
- Malay Mail
Cancer Diaries: The horrors persist and I will file a complaint
APRIL 30 — When my grandfather was dying, he climbed a ladder and fell off it. He passed on not long after. It wasn't from the fall however, it was mostly from complications of late-diagnosed brain cancer. I wonder what he would have thought if he could see me last week, also up a ladder. My ceiling light needed replacing and it was a task I often did myself. As I perched, seated on top of my faithful, paint-splashed aluminium ladder, reaching my arm out, I realised this time it was beyond me. My arm could not stay steady enough to properly fit the new light into the brackets. I kept taking deep breaths, raising my arm again, and again, until I accepted it was a lost cause. It feels as though cancer's job is to keep knocking me down multiple pegs until I accept that I am but a limp noodle wrapped in skin, fragile and weakened. Last week was rough as not only was my roof leaking, my air conditioner suddenly decided to release a stream of liquid on my bedroom floor, my legs were stiff and prone to giving way and everything tasted like s**t. I gave into my inner child's desire to run away and made camp at a nearby hotel — thank goodness for last-minute booking discount rates. A good night's sleep helped me see there were some bright sides to my situation. Fixing my roof and air conditioning now would mean they wouldn't be vexing me during my convalescence period post-surgery. As of writing, my roof has been re-waterproofed, my air conditioner serviced, but now it seems the plumber must visit to check on my gutters (no this is not the setup for a porn episode). I am counting down the days to my surgery mid-May and it feels like the days are coming faster and faster while the weeds in my garden threaten to engulf the house. It is vexing coming to terms with my current fragility while knowing that I will be even more made of glass post-surgery. Perhaps climbing a ladder was a way for me to feel less like a very crabby piece of crystal. At least, for now, my bones have stopped hurting though one of my toenails is turning black and odd smells, like a certain fast food chain's mango egg tart (a culinary abomination) make my stomach turn. Thanks for ladders that stay strong, even when legs sometimes don't. — Unsplash pic I am restless, and perhaps more than a little reckless, but if you were me, perhaps you too would be fiddling with the lights out of boredom and needing a change of scenery. Alas, I can't (by choice) travel beyond the Klang Valley as I can't risk coming down with something so close to my long-awaited lumpectomy. I hope that it will be just the one surgery, that my surgeon gets clean margins, because otherwise I will need to again be wheeled into the operating theatre until a satisfactory amount of cancer cells have been excised. There is no point in mulling the what-ifs for now as I have an echocardiogram next week and another immunotherapy session, where I will have one final round of the very expensive Perjeta drug. Then I will just be bleeding money paying for Herceptin (which is nearly RM2,000 per infusion) every three weeks for as long as my doctors think I need it. Meanwhile I hear there is a shortage of the cancer drug letrozole at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, which must be vexing. I wonder if I will have to worry about my medication supply once I finish my immunotherapy and radiotherapy sessions, and start on five years or so of medications such as tamoxifen. Still, I will just have to do what I've been doing — crossing each bridge, and river, as they come while trying to remain sane. It does no good for me to worry about hypothetical situations such as my cancer fund running out or my cancer cells being more stubborn than expected. For now I am alive despite my strange affectation for climbing up ladders despite my fear of heights so I will still enjoy being able to breathe, move, eat and tell you all about what daft thing I did this week, every week. I will give thanks for ladders that stay strong, even when my legs don't, and my guardian angel who is probably overworked and contemplating retirement. Until next week, dear reader, when we find out if my heart has survived all the drugs I've made it endure so far. * This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
