September 29, 2014 | The CLEOPATRA study, which began recruitment in 2008 for an 800-patient clinical trial of the antibody therapy Perjeta in breast cancer, has just released its results, showing an incredible survival gain of nearly 16 months for patients on a Perjeta combination therapy with Herceptin and docetaxel, versus those on the other drugs alone. The European Society for Medical Oncology, whose annual Congress in Madrid hosted the report on the CLEOPATRA study, called the Perjeta treatment "an unquestionable therapeutic success with an unquestionable clinical implication" in its news release on the trial.

Perjeta, a Roche invention approved by the FDA in 2012, targets HER2-positive breast cancer, as well as an expanding assortment of other cancers that overexpress HER2. This is the same mutation targeted by Herceptin, which in 1998 became the first FDA-approved drug specifically linked to a molecular subtype of cancer, ushering in a wave of interest in personalized medicine. The survival gains shown by Perjeta, however, are unprecedented for a first-line therapy in this field. In addition, the New York Times reports that oncology experts were pleasantly surprised by overall survival rates even in the control arm, where median survival time was 41 months, a notable gain over previous studies of Herceptin alone. It is possible that more physician experience with personalized therapies is helping doctors manage patients on these drugs to best effect.

Molecular testing of cancer to find mutations that may be amendable to targeted therapies is growing more and more routine, making the potential impact of drugs like Perjeta greater than ever before.