Targeted Drug Treatment Effective For Womb Cancer Growth

A rare and potentially fatal womb cancer could now be helped with the new targeted drug treatment afatinib. Researchers found that it helps to target a key gene fault and shrink tumors during pregnancy, attacking the HER2 gene that lies at the heart of the cancer cells. Furthermore, it actually stops the disease in its tracks.

About 52,630 new cases of cancer of the body of the uterus (uterine body or corpus) will be diagnosed in the United States every year. More specifically, uterine serous carcinoma is a fast-growing type of womb cancer, which is more likely than other womb cancer to come back after treatment.

"Our research uses the vast amount of genetic information now available to find ways to shake the foundations of cancer and stop the disease progressing," said lead study author Dr. Carlton Schwab from the Division of Gynaecologic Oncology at the Yale School of Medicine, in a news release. "We have shown similar results to early data of afatinib in non small cell lung cancer, which ultimately led to clinical trials and a shift in the way some of these cancers are treated. There could be real possibilities to make a difference for patients, and this study has laid the foundations for the development of clinical trials testing the drug in women whose cancers have this HER2 gene fault and don't respond to chemotherapy."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the British Journal of Cancer.