New promising immunotherapy drug against aggressive breast cancer

Scientists say that a new treatment is promising in the fight against aggression breast cancer. Three years ago, at the age of 39, Maribel Ramos was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. The type was triple negative.

"I was angry and sad," Ramos said. "Because I know triple negative is a type of cancer that is really difficult to treat."

Ten to 20% of breast cancers are termed triple negative because they do not have receptors, such as those for estrogen, that can be targeted by certain drugs. Treatment options are limited and these cancers tend to be more aggressive and have less good results.

In 2016, Ramos started a trial to test the immunotherapy Tecentriq drug in patients with advanced triple negative breast cancer.

The drug works by targeting proteins found in immune cells and some cancer cells. It is approved for bladder cancer and a type of lung cancer.

Dr. Sylvia Adams of NYU-Langone Health was one of the investigators of the trial. She says the new drug helps the immune system recognize cancer.

"There are already killer cells in the cancer ready to fight, except that this cancer protects itself from immune attack," Adams said. "So, this drug is now able to break down the shield and fundamentally opens the way for your own immune response to kill the tumor."

The trial, conducted on hundreds of sites in 41 countries, followed 902 patients and showed that the combination immunotherapy / chemotherapy improved overall survival by nearly four months (3.7 months) and up close 10 months for patients whose tumors were positive for the targeted protein.

"Hopefully this will actually improve the treatments for many other women with breast cancer," Adams said.

"The tumor was getting smaller," said Ramos. "So every time, every four weeks, he was getting smaller and I was so excited."

"The last scan last week proves that she still has no evidence of illness," Adams said.

Three years ago, Ramos feared that he would not see his eldest daughter. In June, she did it.