Pertuzumab brake for prostate cancer?

摘要

Pertuzumab, a humanised monoclonal antibody that inhibits the dimerisation of human epidermal growth factor receptors, might provide a new treatment for patients with advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer. In a phase II trial, David Agus (Cedars-Sinai Prostate Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA) and colleagues saw no objective responses to pertuzumab (J Clin Oncol 2007; 25: 675-81) but, says Agus, "our patients felt better and lived longer than historical controls". Previous evidence suggests that human epidermal growth factor receptors might drive the growth of castration-resistant prostate cancers. In addition, comments Agus, "pre-clinical data showed that pertuzumab inhibits tumour growth in prostate cancer xenograft models". Therefore, the researchers treated 41 patients with such cancers that had progressed after taxane therapy with pertuzumab.