It
improves the immune system’s ability to find and kill cancer
cells
by Associated Press, March 11, 2019
The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first immunotherapy drug for
breast cancer.
Swiss
drugmaker Roche's Tecentriq was OK'd Friday for treating advanced
triple-negative breast cancer, which accounts for about 15 percent of cases.
It's to be given with chemotherapy, the standard treatment.
Breast
cancer specialist Amy Tiersten of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York
called it “tremendously exciting news."
Approved
for two other cancers, Tecentriq works by boosting the immune system's ability
to spot and kill cancer cells.
In
a study of 900 women, the benefits were modest. Those who received Tecentriq
plus chemo went two months longer, on average, without their cancer worsening,
compared with those on chemo alone. The combo caused nerve pain, nausea and
other side effects.
Tecentriq
costs about $13,400 per month.
— Linda
A. Johnson, Associated Press
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