Actualizado 10/12/2008 08:31
- Comunicado -

New Data Show That Herceptin, Xeloda and Avastin Help Patients With Early and Advanced Breast Cancer Live Longer or Rema

BASEL, Switzerland, December 10 /PRNewswire/ --

-- Roche Medicines Offer Improved Ways of Fighting the Leading Cause of Cancer Death in Women

New data being presented at the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) show that Herceptin (trastuzumab), Avastin (bevacizumab) and oral Xeloda (capecitabine) continue to offer new and better treatment options for breast cancer patients allowing women to live longer or remain disease free for longer if the medicines are given before and after surgery as well as in advanced stages of disease.

    
    Key data being presented include:
    - Herceptin before surgery: Results from the NOAH (NeOAdjuvant Herceptin)
      phase III study showed that women with locally advanced HER2-positive
      breast cancer who started a combination of Herceptin and standard
      chemotherapy prior to surgery had a significantly greater chance of
      living free of their disease (event-free survival) three years after
      initiation of treatment as compared to women who were receiving pre-
      operative chemotherapy alone.
    - Xeloda in early breast cancer: Early data from an independent study in
      Finland and Sweden indicate that the chemotherapy pill Xeloda, which is
      already proven in advanced breast cancer, may also reduce the
      recurrence of early breast cancer and help women live longer. This is
      one of 20 Xeloda abstracts that have been accepted for presentation
      during SABCS.
    - Avastin in advanced breast cancer: First efficacy results from the
      largest ever safety study of Avastin in a real-life setting, which
      involved more than 2,000 patients with locally recurrent or metastatic
      breast cancer, confirm that Avastin can be used with a broad range of
      chemotherapy treatments giving patients a median of almost 10 months
      without their disease getting worse. The results, which are one of 24
      separate Avastin data presentations during SABCS, confirm that Avastin
      based therapy is essential for improving the lives of women with
      advanced breast cancer.

"Researching new cancer treatments is a complex step by step process. Each success helps lay the foundation for the next step forward," said William M. Burns, CEO Division Roche Pharmaceuticals. "These results show that we are making significant progress towards giving doctors and their breast cancer patients better and more effective treatment options to fight this devastating disease at all stages," he added.

    
    Presentation of Data
    Herceptin
    Gianni L et al  Neoadjuvant trastuzumab in patients with   Friday 12th
                    HER2-positive locally advanced breast      December
                    cancer: primary efficacy analysis of the   09:30 hrs
                    NOAH trial                                 General
                                                               Session 3
                                                               (Hall D)
    Xeloda
    Joensuu H et    Significant improvement in                 Sunday 14th,
    al. for The     recurrence-free survival (RFS)             December
    Finnish Breast  when capecitabine (X) is                   11:45 hrs
    Cancer Group    integrated into docetaxel (T)
                    5-FU + epirubicin +                        General
                    cyclophosphamide (CEF) adjuvant            Session 7
                    therapy for high-risk early
                    breast cancer (BC): interim
                    analysis of the FinXX-trial.
    Avastin
    Smith IE et al  Primary analysis of study MO19391, an      Saturday
                    open-label safety study of bevacizumab     13th
                    plus taxane-based therapy as 1st-line      December
                    treatment of patients with locally         07:00 hrs
                    recurrent or metastatic breast cancer.
                                                               Poster
                                                               Session 4

The above mentioned studies and data represent the latest results of clinical research for each treatment and are not necessarily part of the indicated licence in each country. For detailed label information, visit the website of your health authority or the EMEA website http://www.emea.europa.eu/

Note to Editors

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide.(i) Each year more than one million new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed worldwide, and nearly 400,000 people will die of the disease annually.(ii) In HER2-positive breast cancer, increased quantities of the HER2 protein are present on the surface of the tumour cells. This is known as 'HER2-positivity'. High levels of HER2 are present in a particularly aggressive form of the disease which responds poorly to chemotherapy. Research shows that HER2-positivity affects approximately 20-30 percent of women with breast cancer.(iii)

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As the world's biggest biotech company and an innovator of products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people's health and quality of life. Roche is the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics and drugs for cancer and transplantation, and is a market leader in virology. It is also active in other major therapeutic areas such as autoimmune diseases, inflammatory and metabolic disorders and diseases of the central nervous system. In 2007 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totalled 36.8 billion Swiss francs, and the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 9.3 billion francs. Roche has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai, and invested over 8 billion Swiss francs in R&D in 2007. Worldwide, the Group employs about 80,000 people. Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.roche.com.

All trademarks used or mentioned in this release are legally protected.

    
    References
    ---------------------------------
    (i) World Health Organization,
        http://www.who.int/cancer/detection/brea...
    (ii) Ferlay J, et al., GLOBOCAN 2002. Cancer Incidence, Mortality and
         Prevalence Worldwide. IARC CancerBase No.5, Version 2.0. IARCPress,
         Lyon, 2004. 2004.
    (iii) Harries M, Smith I. The development and clinical use of trastuzumab
          (Herceptin). Endocr Relat Cancer 9: 75-85, 2002.

Roche Group Media Relations: Phone: +41-61-688-8888, e-mail: basel.mediaoffice@roche.com - Daniel Piller (Head) - Alexander Klauser - Martina Rupp - Claudia Schmitt - Elina Ammala

Comunicados

Si quieres mejorar el posicionamiento online de tu marca, ahora puedes publicar tus notas de prensa o comunicados de empresa en la sección de Comunicados de europa press

Si necesitas asesoramiento en comunicación, redacción de tus notas de prensa o ampliar la difusión de tu comunicado más allá de la página web de europa press, ponte en contacto con nosotros en comunicacion@europapress.es o en el teléfono 913592600