text_1: Glaxo Touts Experimental Tykerb As Effective Breast-Cancer Treament
text_2: The story discusses the preliminary results of lapatinib (trade name Tykerb) and chemotherapy in HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer patients. Patients who took lapatinib and the chemotherapy drug Xeloda remained stable (i.e. cancer did not spread further) nearly twice as long as patients who only had chemotherapy (8.5 months vs. 4.5 months). However, many drugs are effective in prolonging response in metastatic disease without impacting length of life. It would be good to get survival data to back up these claims, or at least provide data on quality of life to see whether the addition of lapatinib made a difference and how much. Additionally, the results of this trial have not been scrutinized in a peer-reviewed medical journal. The story provides a powerful, but premature suggestion of equivalence between Herceptin and lapatinib. The suggeston is not evidenced based, as the two drugs have not been compared in a controlled trial. Potential cardiac side effects are a big issue for early-stage breast cancer patients, the group of women for whom this drug is already being tested as an alternative to Herceptin, so further research comparing the two drugs is needed. This story relies solely on sources associated with the drug manufacturer. It also appears to rely heavily on information from a press release by the study sponsor, GlaxoSmithKline. Other oncology researchers are needed for perspective on the results of lapatinib as part of treatment for HER-2 positive cancer. The story mentions that lapatinib is still being tested in clinical trials and is not yet available for sale. The story says that “GlaxoSmithKline plans to submit the drug for regulatory approval in the U.S. and Europe by the end of this year,” and later mentions Glaxo’s “high hopes for Tykerb.” It would have been better to get some other perspectives about these prospects, other than comments from the company or company-sponsored researchers.