At the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology on Saturday, new revelations about breast cancer treatments were presented. The study findings presented at the meeting threw some light on how to improve cancer-related clinical outcomes in premenopausal women with early stage, hormone-sensitive breast cancer, and effectiveness of Avastin in combination with docetaxel chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced breast cancer.
According to the Cancer Research U.K., each year approximately 12,000 women die from breast cancer in the U.K. Moreover, the incidence of breast cancer in the U.K. has risen by 12% in the last ten years. In the United States, breast cancer is the most common cancer occurring in women (excluding cancers of the skin) and the second most common cause of death from cancer in women, after lung cancer.
The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2008, about 182,460 women in the United States will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and 67,770 women will be diagnosed with in situ breast cancer. An estimated 1,990 men in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer. It is estimated that 40,930 deaths (40,480 women, 450 men) from this disease will occur this year. A worrying statistics indeed!
Swiss firm Novartis AG (NVS) revealed that Zometa, the company's intravenous bisphosphonate therapy for patients with cancer that has spread to the bones, demonstrated significant anticancer benefit in premenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer.
Novartis' Zometa, a new generation intravenous bisphosphonate was initially approved in the treatment of hypercalcemia of malignancy, also known as tumor-induced hypercalcemia, in the European Union and more than 60 countries, including the United States, Switzerland, Brazil, Canada and Australia.
Last August, the FDA approved another version of Zometa under the brand name Reclast as a once-yearly treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis. The active ingredient available in both Zometa and Reclast is Zoledronic acid.
According to the new data presented at the scientific session yesterday, Zometa offered a significant anticancer benefit for premenopausal women with hormone-sensitive, early-stage breast cancer. The study dubbed ABCSG-12, which enrolled 1,800 premenopausal women with hormone-responsive early breast cancer, found that Zometa when added to hormone therapy, following surgery, significantly reduced the risk of cancer returning or reduced the risk of death by 36% beyond clinical benefits achieved with hormone therapy alone. The patients were treated for three years and observed for an additional two years. The findings are at the initial stage and a longer term follow-up is required to fully determine the benefit to patients.
Laboratory research had suggested that Zometa may also help protect patients from the spread of cancer to other parts of the body (distant metastatic sites) and help prevent its return.
In 2007, Zometa raked in sales of US$1.3 billion, down 2%. According to Novartis, overall growth for this class of medicines has slowed with many patients receiving treatment less frequently and for a shorter course of therapy. However, this trend was balanced by increasing use in patients with lung cancer as well as rapid growth in Japan and markets outside the U.S. and Europe. In December, the U.S. FDA granted Zometa an additional six months of marketing exclusivity until 2013 following the completion of pediatric studies.
Other findings presented at the conference revealed that adding bevacizumab (Avastin) to docetaxel (Taxotere) slows disease progression for patients newly diagnosed with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
Avastin, Genentech Inc's (DNA) blockbuster cancer drug, which is approved to treat patients with colon and lung cancer, won the FDA approval in February this year for late-stage breast cancer, despite a panel of outside FDA advisers voting 5-4 against the drug on the grounds that Avastin's benefits did not outweigh dangerous and toxic side effects. Avastin is sold by Roche and Genentech, and last year, the drug notched up $2.3 billion in sales.
The study, which evaluated the combination of Avastin and Taxotere, is the first to be carried out in the U.S. Avastin is usually combined with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s (BMY) Taxol in the U.S. The trial dubbed AVADO, enrolled 736 women with advanced breast cancer. According to the study results, there was tumor reduction in 44.4% of patients treated with Taxotere and a placebo, compared with 55.2% for those treated with Taxotere and a small dose of Avastin, and 63.1% for those treated with Taxotere and a high dose of Avastin.
NVS closed Friday's trade down $0.45 at $52.35 on a volume of 914,607 shares.
DNA closed the day's trade down $0.14 at $70.87 on a volume of 2.63 million shares.
BMY closed the day's trade up $0.31 at $22.79 on an above-average volume of 14.45 million shares.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.