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Tumor-erasing antibody created

By Daily Bruin Staff

May 2, 1996 9:00 p.m.

Friday, May 3, 1996

Treatment shows consistency and relative absence of common
negative side effects

By Vinayaka Pandit

Daily Bruin Contributor

Four years ago, Barbara Bradfield saw herself at the end of her
life. Chemotherapy had little effect on the breast cancer that was
spreading to her lungs and lymph nodes at a preposterous rate.

"At that point, I thought I was going to die," said Bradfield, a
teacher’s aide in La Cañada. Through her doctor, Bradfield
learned about a program for patients with a certain type of breast
cancer at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

When Bradfield entered the study in 1992, she was diagnosed with
16 tumors in her lungs. Within half a year of being in the program,
however, her tumors miraculously disappeared. Today, Bradfield has
been cancer-free for more than three years.

"I have my life back and I’m grateful for it," said the
53-year-old wife and mother.

Bradfield is only one of the women who have profited from the
study. Of six patients, one has had her tumor completely disappear,
three have had theirs shrink, one has stayed the same, while only
one has had hers progress.

To qualify for the study, women must have an overabundance of a
specific gene called HER-2/neu in their tumor cells.

"(The study) is only effective for those patients who have this
genetic alteration, which is about 30 percent of breast cancer
patients," said Dr. Dennis Slamon, principal investigator and
director of the Revlon/ UCLA Women’s Cancer Research program.

Nine years ago, Slamon and his colleagues found an association
between breast cancer and the excess of the HER-2/neu protein after
studying tumors that had been removed from patients.

"We found that breast cancer patients with this genetic
alteration had a shorter survival and were more likely to relapse,"
Slamon said.

The protein made from the gene causes the tumor cells to grow
and divide at an unusually fast rate, which results in an increase
of cancerous cells.

UCLA researchers initially tested the effectiveness of the
antibody fighting breast cancer cells in mice. When these tests
proved successful, Genentech, Inc. of South San Francisco developed
the HER-2/neu antibody. Antibodies, normally produced by the human
body, fight off infectious diseases.

The newly administered antibody attacks the HER-2/neu protein
and thereby impairs the cell’s natural ability to resist
chemotherapy.

In most antibodies, animal components lead to allergic side
effects in patients. However, since the HER-2/neu antibody is made
up almost entirely of human cells, patients can take it for
extended periods without getting sick or becoming allergic, Slamon
explained.

"Unlike chemotherapy, (the new antibody therapy) doesn’t make
you sick," said Valli Lopez-Lasker, another patient who has
benefitted from the treatment. "It doesn’t make you lose hair.
There are no side effects whatsoever."

Lopez-Lasker, a Santa Barbara resident, learned about the trials
through her daughter, a graduate student and teaching assistant in
the UCLA English department. Lopez-Lasker had terminal cancer when
she entered the trials late last year but since then, she has
undergone an 80 percent reduction of her breast cancer.

The antibody is being administered at UCLA in three trials, all
of which are at the advanced stages. Earlier versions of the trials
established the safety and efficacy of the antibody.

"We are extremely optimistic about these trials," Slamon said in
a recent statement.

"It’s the first (breast cancer) therapy that has gone to phase
III testing," he added, stating that it was the last step before
applying for approval to the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA).

Depending on further conclusions from the study, Slamon hoped
that the FDA will approve the antibody within the next two to three
years.

"There are 188,000 new breast cancer cases (in the United
States) each year, so there are plenty of patients that this will
impact," Slamon said.

With similar trials now underway at 113 locations in the United
States, Canada, Europe and Australia, Slamon saw more in these
studies than just a cure for breast cancer.

"This antibody has a definite value for many breast cancer
patients … More importantly, it has showed us that clinical
research does pay off," he concluded.

Patients wishing to be considered for any of the trials should
contact Valerie Verity-Mock at (310) 825-8375.

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