The safety and efficacy of Herceptin in treatment of women with metastatic breast cancer were studied in a randomized, controlled clinical trial in combination with chemotherapy (H0648g, n = 469 patients) and an open-label, single agent clinical trial (H0649g, n = 222 patients). Both trials studied patients with metastatic breast cancer whose tumors overexpress the HER2 protein. Patients were eligible if they had 2 or 3 levels of overexpression (based on a 0 to 3 scale) by immunohistochemical assessment of tumor tissue performed by a central testing lab.

Previously Untreated Metastatic Breast Cancer (H0648g)

H0648g was a multicenter, randomized, open-label clinical trial conducted in 469 women with metastatic breast cancer who had not been previously treated with chemotherapy for metastatic disease. Tumor specimens were tested by IHC (Clinical Trial Assay, CTA) and scored as 0, 1+, 2+, or 3+, with 3+ indicating the strongest positivity. Only patients with 2+ or 3+ positive tumors were eligible (about 33% of those screened). Patients were randomized to receive chemotherapy alone or in combination with Herceptin given intravenously as a 4 mg/kg loading dose followed by weekly doses of Herceptin at 2 mg/kg. For those who had received prior anthracycline therapy in the adjuvant setting, chemotherapy consisted of paclitaxel (175 mg/m2 over 3 hours every 21 days for at least six cycles); for all other patients, chemotherapy consisted of anthracycline plus cyclophosphamide (AC: doxorubicin 60 mg/m2 or epirubicin 75 mg/m2 plus 600 mg/m2 cyclophosphamide every 21 days for six cycles). Sixty-five percent of patients randomized to receive chemotherapy alone in this study received Herceptin at the time of disease progression as part of a separate extension study.

Based upon the determination by an independent response evaluation committee, the patients randomized to Herceptin and chemotherapy experienced a significantly longer median time to disease progression (TTP), a higher overall response rate (ORR), and a longer median duration of response (DoR) as compared with patients randomized to chemotherapy alone. Patients randomized to Herceptin and chemotherapy also had a longer median overall survival (OS) (see Table 11). These treatment effects were observed both in patients who received Herceptin plus paclitaxel and in those who received Herceptin plus AC; however, the magnitude of the effects was greater in the paclitaxel subgroup.

Data from H0648g suggest that the beneficial treatment effects were largely limited to patients with the highest level of HER2 protein overexpression (3+) (see Table 12).

Previously Treated Metastatic Breast Cancer (H0649g)

Herceptin was studied as a single agent in a multicenter, open-label, single-arm clinical trial (H0649g) in patients with HER2 overexpressing metastatic breast cancer who had relapsed following one or two prior chemotherapy regimens for metastatic disease. Of 222 patients enrolled, 66% had received prior adjuvant chemotherapy, 68% had received two prior chemotherapy regimens for metastatic disease, and 25% had received prior myeloablative treatment with hematopoietic rescue. Patients were treated with a loading dose of 4 mg/kg IV followed by weekly doses of Herceptin at 2 mg/kg IV.

The ORR (complete response + partial response), as determined by an independent Response Evaluation Committee, was 14%, with a 2% complete response rate and a 12% partial response rate. Complete responses were observed only in patients with disease limited to skin and lymph nodes. The overall response rate in patients whose tumors tested as CTA 3+ was 18% while in those that tested as CTA 2+, it was 6%.