New study finds promising drug doubled positive effect in hormone-receptor positive breast cancer
An investigational drug discovered and being developed by Pfizer Inc., palbociclib targets a key family of proteins (CDK4/6) responsible for cell growth by preventing them from dividing. Results of the multi-year phase 2 study showed a significant increase in progression-free survival (PFS0 for patients with advanced breast cancer that was estrogen receptor positive (ER+), HER2-negative (HER2-), who were given a combination of the standard anti-estrogen treatment letrozole and palbociclib, compared to letrozole alone. “We’re essentially putting the brakes on cell proliferation and causing these tumor cells to stop growing,” said Dr. Richard Finn, associate professor of medicine at UCLA and lead author of the study…