The lottery system was designed in consultation with breast cancer patient advocates, who consider a lottery the fairest way to make the currently limited supplies of the drug available. Initially, patients selected by the Genentech lottery were able to receive the drug as part of a study at about ten different hospitals. Now, the NCI is arranging to have the drug available in more locations through its Treatment Referral Center program. This program refers patients to receive experimental drugs at more than 50 NCI-designated cancer centers around the country. CIS information specialists will explain what steps a patient's physician should take to enter the patient in the Genentech lottery.
Information specialists can also provide information on other trials.
NCI will be working with Genentech to study the use of Herceptin at different stages of breast cancer and in combination with other agents. These new breast cancer trials could start enrolling patients in mid-1998. These trials will be carried out by NCI's cooperative clinical trial groups and by investigators in other NCI-sponsored centers. NCI and Genentech are already working together to study Herceptin in tumors other than breast cancer. Both studies are being carried out through NCI-sponsored cooperative clinical trial groups.