AstraZeneca's Enhertu Shows Promise for Broader Breast Cancer Use

Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. (Reuters)
Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. (Reuters)
TT
20

AstraZeneca's Enhertu Shows Promise for Broader Breast Cancer Use

Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. (Reuters)
Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. (Reuters)

AstraZeneca said its Enhertu cancer drug has been shown to significantly help women suffering from a type of breast cancer that leaves them with poor treatment options, opening the door to a much larger potential patient group.

AstraZeneca, which is working on the drug with Japan's Daiichi Sankyo, said on Monday that Enhertu prolonged survival and slowed the progression of metastatic breast cancer with low levels of a protein known as HER2.

The improvement was "clinically meaningful" when compared with standard chemotherapy, it said, adding that detailed trial results would be presented at an as-yet undisclosed medical conference.

While the study was limited to low-HER2 patients whose tumors had spread to other parts of the body, analysts have said a positive trial read-out could portend future use at an earlier stage of the disease with potentially hundreds of thousands of new eligible patients per year.

AstraZeneca has predicted a decline in sales of its widely used COVID-19 vaccine this year.

However, brisk revenue growth from new cancer drugs has prompted analysts to rank the Anglo-Swedish company as one of the world's fastest growing major pharma groups.

Enhertu belongs to a promising class of therapies called antibody drug conjugates (ADC), which are engineered antibodies that bind to tumors cells and then release cell-killing chemicals.

AstraZeneca secured rights to the Daiichi Sankyo compound three years ago in a deal worth up to $6.9 billion, challenging the world's biggest cancer drug maker, Roche.

Enhertu has since been shown to help women with breast cancer characterized by high levels of HER2, a cell receptor that leads to uncontrolled tissue growth, when compared to Roche's ADC drug Kadcyla. This led to initial market approvals in late 2019.

Astra's drug is also being tested against gastric, lung and colorectal cancers.



Giant Sinkhole Unearths Forgotten Cave Mystery

Giant sinkhole swallows up part of a road in Surrey - EPA
Giant sinkhole swallows up part of a road in Surrey - EPA
TT
20

Giant Sinkhole Unearths Forgotten Cave Mystery

Giant sinkhole swallows up part of a road in Surrey - EPA
Giant sinkhole swallows up part of a road in Surrey - EPA

When a giant sinkhole swallowed up part of a road in Surrey it caused homes to be evacuated and left some residents "terrified".

But the hole in Godstone has also led many to question whether stories of a mysterious labyrinth of disused caves and quarries beneath the surface are to blame, BBC reported.

Peter Burgess, of the Wealden Cave and Mining Society, is an expert on the underground caves and crevices in and around Godstone.

He has been advising Surrey County Council on the risks posed by these long-forgotten caverns.

"The problem with the caves is they were all dug well before the days when such things had to be properly recorded," Burgess said.

"So once they were closed and abandoned, memories went and people forgot where they were – and that's why they cause a problem today.

"Because when they manifest themselves, people know they're around, but they don't know where they're going to pop up next."

"The caves in Godstone were dug for a very high-quality sand, it's called silver sand. It was dug for a variety of purposes – glassmaking, a lot of it went into horticulture and gardening, especially in the Victorian times," he said.

"Most of the underground workings closed by about 1900, and then the industry moved on to open casting, big open pits, which we can still see today."

On if caves could have caused the sinkhole, he said: "It's possible."

"We're not experts in what causes such things. That's down to the geologists and ground engineers.

"We're seen as a source of information on locations and where places might be should there be any other locations at risk. Sadly, in the village here, there's very little on record.

"Most of the sites are either unsurveyed or lost or collapsed or filled in."