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)
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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.



Marseille Airport Suspends Flights Due to Wildfire as Public Warned to Stay at Home

 Smoke rises over Marseille as a fast-moving wildfire spreads on the outskirts the city, southern France, July 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke rises over Marseille as a fast-moving wildfire spreads on the outskirts the city, southern France, July 8, 2025. (Reuters)
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Marseille Airport Suspends Flights Due to Wildfire as Public Warned to Stay at Home

 Smoke rises over Marseille as a fast-moving wildfire spreads on the outskirts the city, southern France, July 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke rises over Marseille as a fast-moving wildfire spreads on the outskirts the city, southern France, July 8, 2025. (Reuters)

A wildfire spurred by hot summer winds reached France's second-largest city Tuesday, grounding all flights to and from Marseille, injuring at least nine people and forcing many residents to evacuate or barricade themselves indoors as smoke choked the Mediterranean air.

A big city hospital switched to generator power, train traffic was halted in most of the surrounding area, and some roads were closed and others tangled with logjams.

More than 1,000 firefighters were deployed to tackle the fire, which broke out near the town of Les Pennes-Mirabeau before racing toward Marseille. Some 720 hectares (acres) were hit by the blaze, the prefecture said.

Nine firefighters were injured, according to the prefecture, or local administration. No dead have been reported.

The prefecture said in a statement Tuesday evening that “the situation is under control,″ though the fire has not yet been extinguished. It described the fire as “particularly virulent.″

It came on a cloudless, windy day after a lengthy heat wave around Europe left the area parched and at heightened risk for wildfires. Several have broken out in southern France in recent days.

Light gray smoke gave the sky over Marseille’s old port a dusty aspect as water-dropping planes tried to extinguish the fire in the outskirts of the city, which has some 900,000 inhabitants.

Hundreds of homes were evacuated. The prefecture urged people in the affected areas to stay indoors and off the roads. With the fire approaching Marseille, the prefecture also advised residents in the north of the city to keep windows closed to prevent toxic smoke from entering their homes.

One distressed family watched the smoke over their neighborhood in the hills above the port city and showed AP how the roof of their neighbor's house had been damaged in the fire as they worried about their own.

Marseille airport announced that the runway had been closed at around midday. The prefecture said train traffic was halted, notably after a fire neared the tracks in L'Estaque, a picturesque neighborhood of Marseille.

As a safety measure, the city's Hospital Nord switched to generators “due to micro power cuts.”

“The aim is to secure the imaging sector. We are not worried as we have a high level of autonomy,” the University Hospitals of Marseille said, adding that because of the disrupted traffic it asked workers to remain at their posts until the next teams starts its shift.