Susan Nakamura, a 53-year-old marketing director at the UCLA Laser Refractive Center of the Jules Stein Eye Institute, was packing for her long-awaited cruise to South America in November 2005 when she got a call from her doctor.
The doctor told her to cancel all plans after discovering signs of breast cancer in her body.
“I had to put my life on hold,” Nakamura said. “Women can die within 12 to 18 months, and I knew someone who died that quickly. I prepared myself for the worst.”
Nakamura was diagnosed with HER2, or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancer, a type of breast cancer that results from the overexpression, or surplus, of a growth-factor protein.
Once considered to be extremely debilitating because there was no cure, HER2-positive breast cancer is now one of the most treatable cancers as a result of research conducted at UCLA which led to the development of the Herceptin therapy , said Dr. Dennis Slamon, director of Clinical/Translational Research at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
While traditional treatment methods such as chemotherapy are 4 to 6 percent effective, the new Herceptin therapy has shown to decrease the recurrence rate by 50 percent, according to studies of the drug.
“The old therapies (were like) throwing in a bomb hoping to kill off the bad cells along with the good ones,” Slamon said. “The new therapies … have more specific targets so only abnormal cells will be destroyed.”
HER2-positive breast cancer, the type of cancer that Nakamura was diagnosed with, constitutes 25 percent of the 2 million breast cancer cases each year.
Upon hearing from her oncologist that an effective treatment was available and that she would be able to live a long life, Nakamura said she felt like something had been lifted from her shoulders.
With the proven success of the Herceptin therapy, her doctors have been optimistic about her well-being.
“It’s kind of like the question of whether the glass is half empty or half full,” Nakamura said. “My doctor didn’t see the part of my life that was dying, but he only saw the part that was living.”
Not only did Herceptin effectively treat the cancer, but the process was painless, Nakamura said.
Since Herceptin, which needs to be infused intravenously every three weeks, works on the cellular level to prevent tumor growth and target and destroy cancer cells, no physical effects are felt. It is highly effective and has been received positively by patients, said Patricia Ganz, director of Cancer Prevention and Control Research at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
No side effects have been detected from the use of Herceptin on its own, though when used with a specific type of chemotherapy called anthrocyclines, it may increase the risk of heart problems.
Yet current research has indicated that Herceptin can be just as effective without these anthrocyclines, which would be considerably more safe, Slamon said.
Research, which led to the development of Herceptin, is the key to improving treatment in the future.
“Research is critical because without research dollars, the field (of cancer) would be stagnant,” Slamon said.
Herceptin was developed based on 12 years of basic and clinical research conducted by Slamon, which may have taken less time if the scientific community had more faith in oncology.
“The reigning thinking was that this approach would not work,” he said. “A lot of people didn’t have faith in the research, and that slowed things down.”
Donor funds from organizations such as Revlon Run/Walk were crucial during the early stages of the research when no one believed it would work.
“They are the most critical of funds because they are immediately available and flexible,” Slamon said. “They can really bring about quick changes.”
Though some donations may seem small, they can collectively produce a significant result, said Nakamura, who started participating in Run/Walk years before she was diagnosed.
“I never would have thought that the funds I raised back then were part of the funds that saved my life,” she said.
With the discovery of Herceptin impacting the medical community, more funds have been provided to perfect the treatment.
Though breast cancer is very common, the future of breast cancer treatment is a positive one, Ganz said.
“People have been doing research for 20 to 30 years now, so we have more targeted therapies,” Ganz added. “Women diagnosed today have a good prognosis.”
Herceptin, a major development in the fight against breast cancer, has set the stage for further treatment improvements that will allow women like Nakamura to live longer and resume their daily adventures ““ like going on the cruise Nakamura had originally planned.
“I feel like I’ve been given life,” Nakamura said. “If you love something, you should do it. If you want to say something, don’t not say it. The one thing I won’t be anymore is complacent with life.”
CORRECTION: Susan Makamura’s title was corrected.