Drug May Become New Breast Cancer Therapy

HOUSTON -- A U.S. study shows Gefitinib, a once-promising drug for treating lung cancer, can enhance hormonal therapy for treating some metastatic breast cancers. The finding concerning the drug, also known as Iressa, represents the first positive study involving breast cancer for the entire class of drugs known as epidermal growth factor receptor, or EGFR, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, said Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli, the study's principal investigator at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. "We initiated this study in 2003 with hopes of reducing the resistance to hormonal therapy," said Cristofanilli. "There was a lot of preclinical work indicating that, in fact, resistance to hormonal therapy is strongl...