Editor's note
- Breast Cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in women, eight
to nine percent of women will develop this cancer during their
lifetime.(1) Each year more than one million new cases of breast cancer
are diagnosed(2) with a death rate of over 500,000 people per year.(3)
- Avastin doubles the chance of a patient living without their disease
advancing (progression free survival). When used in combination with
taxanes (chemotherapy), Avastin substantially increases the efficacy of
treatment with limited impact on safety. Studies show that continual
direct VEGF inhibition with Avastin maximizes the treatment benefit for
the patient.
- Herceptin is a humanised antibody specifically designed to target and
block the function of HER2, which causes fast growing, aggressive breast
cancer tumours. Herceptin delivers high cure rates for women with HER2
positive early breast cancer and extends survival across all stages of
HER2 positive breast cancer by activating the immune system and
suppressing HER2. Herceptin is considered the foundation of care in women
with HER2-positive breast cancer and is recommended in treatment
guidelines throughout the world.
- Colorectal cancer is the most common cancer in developed countries(4)
and the second most common cause of death from cancer across all cancer
types in men and women across Europe.(5)
- Avastin acts by blocking VEGF, the key mediator of tumor angiogenesis,
offering patients a better chance of significantly improved survival.
Avastin is the first anti-angiogenic inhibitor to increase survival in
first and second line treatment and to provide significant improvements
in the time that patients can live without their disease advancing.
The 2008 ASCO Annual Meeting takes place from May 31 to June 3, McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Full details can be found at http://www.asco.org.
If you or your media colleagues are interested in attending the Roche Media Event during ASCO on 30th May, where the data outlined in brief above will be presented, please contact Anne Cameron (see details below).
References:
1. Wilking N and Jonsson B. A Pan-European comparison regarding patient
access to cancer drugs. Karolinska Institute in collaboration with
Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden, 2005
2. World Health Organisation (WHO) 2003.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/...
3. World Health Organisation, Projections of mortality and burden of
disease to 2030:
http://www.who.int/healthinfo/statistics...
4. Parkin DM. Estimating the world cancer burden: GLOBOCAN 2000. Int. J
Cancer 2001; (94): 153-156
5. Boyle P, Ferlay J. Cancer incidence and mortality in Europe, 2004.
Annals of Oncology 2005; 16:481-488
For further information please contact: Christine McMenamin, Roche, Tel: +41-61-688-2139, Mob: +41-79-618-7671; Anne Cameron, Galliard, Tel: +44-207-663-2256, Mob: +44-78-416-36-871.
