Herceptin
| Monoclonal antibody | |
|---|---|
| Type | Whole antibody |
| Source | Humanized (from mouse) |
| Target | HER2/neu |
| Clinical data | |
| Trade names | Herceptin, others |
| AHFS/Drugs.com | Monograph |
| Pregnancy category |
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| Routes of administration |
intravenous, subcutaneous |
| ATC code | |
| Pharmacokinetic data | |
| Metabolism | Unknown, possibly reticuloendothelial system. |
| Biological half-life | 2-12 days |
| Identifiers | |
| CAS Number | |
| DrugBank | |
| ChemSpider |
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| UNII | |
| KEGG | |
| ChEMBL | |
| ECHA InfoCard | 100.224.377 |
| Chemical and physical data | |
| Formula | C6470H10012N1726O2013S42 |
| Molar mass | 145531.5 g/mol |
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Trastuzumab, sold under the brand name Herceptin among others, is a monoclonal antibody used to treat breast cancer. Specifically it is used for breast cancer that is HER2 receptor positive. It may be used by itself or together with other chemotherapy medication. Trastuzumab is given by slow injection into a vein and injection just under the skin.
Common side effects include fever, infection, cough, headache, trouble sleeping, and rash. Other severe side effects include heart failure, allergic reactions, and lung disease. Use during pregnancy may harm the baby. Trastuzumab works by binding to the HER2 receptor and slowing down cell duplication.
Trastuzumab was approved for medical use in the United States in 1998. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health system. The wholesale price in the developing world is between 1,800 and 1,955 USD per 440 mg vial. In the United Kingdom a 150 mg vial costs the NHS 407.00 pounds.
The safety and efficacy of trastuzumab-containing combination therapies (with chemotherapy, hormone blockers, or lapatinib) for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. The overall hazard ratios for overall survival and progression free survival were 0.82 and 0.61, respectively. It was difficult to accurately ascertain the true impact of trastuzumab on survival, as in three of the seven trials, over half of the patients in the control arm were allowed to cross-over and receive trastuzumab after their cancer began to progress. Thus, this analysis likely underestimates the true survival benefit associated with trastuzumab treatment in this population. In these trials, trastuzumab also increased the risk of heart problems, including heart failure and left ventricular ejection fraction decline..
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