Mar 28, 2009 8:36 am US/Eastern
The Trojan Horse Attack Against Breast Cancer
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Oncologist Dr. Charles Vogel
CBS
In Greek mythology, after a fruitless 10-year siege on the city of Troy, an attacking Greek army built a huge figure of a horse as a trophy to its enemy. Hidden inside was a select force of men who surprised, defeated and overtook Troy.
A similar tactic is being considered in the advancement against breast cancer.
Cheryl Espinosa had cancer in 2005. Doctors believed she had an 84% chance of not having the cancer return, but it did.
"It did come back full force stage IV metastatic breast cancer," said Cheryl Espinosa, who is a participant in clinical trials. "I opted to go on the TDM trial, which I was lucky enough to be eligible for."
Oncologist Dr. Charles Vogel has been conducting that clinical trial on the drug TDM-1, which he metaphorically compares to Greek mythology's Trojan Horse, in which an attacking force used a completely different tactic to overtake the city of Troy.
Dr. Vogel explains that his trial seeks a cancer treatment for patients who have not responded well to other treatments.
"TDM1 is equivalent to a Trojan Horse," said Dr. Vogel, "where the drug Herceptin is linked to a form of chemotherapy, and the Herceptin will bring the chemotherapy directly to the tumor cell."
The drug was used in a population of patients initially who had failed many different lines of therapy. And even in a very heavily treated population, 30% of the patients responded.
To put that in perspective, in the usual phase I trial of most drugs, the likelihood of a response is about 3 percent. It worked for Cheryl, who added, "I was on that for five months. After one treatment I had complete resolution systemically."
Unfortunately, Cheryl's cancer later spread to her brain, and she had to leave the trial but never regretted the opportunity.
For more information on breast cancer, log on The Susan G. Komen For The Cure.
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