Herceptin heart damage link

Herceptin, an early stage breast cancer treatment drug is making headlines again as new research shows it causes a risk to heart damage.

A report by US scientists, released in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, followed 173 patients taking the drug and showed 28% of them developed some form of heart damage.

The key issue of the report however, was that this damage was shown to be an “acceptable risk” as damage was repaired in the majority of cases, and once the damage was healed treatment with the drug could be safely resumed.

Cancer Research UK’s medical director Professor John Toy, said:

“It has been known for some time that Herceptin can cause heart problems for some women.

"Current NICE (The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) guidelines outline that, before using the drug, all women should receive cardiac assessment and be monitored throughout their treatment to minimise the risk.

"This reassuring study shows that, by stopping the drug in the women who have an adverse reaction and successfully treating the heart problem, the Herceptin treatment can safely restart."