Tykerb
Should you still invest?
Mechanism of Tykerb
What does it do?
● Form of chemotherapy that attacks breast cancer tumors, that express the
HER2 gene
How does it work?
● Blocks the HER2 pathway
● TYKERB is a ligand that binds to the HER2 and EGFR receptors
● It inhibits the tyrosine kinase domains of the receptors
What does HER2 and EGFR do in the cell?
● HER2 is responsible for cell proliferation
● EGFR inhibits ErbB-driven cell growth (“Mechanism of Action”)
Document A
● TYKERB= target drug
● Targets HER2 protein
● Target drug treatments are designed specifically to attack abnormalities within cancer cells
● Targets HER2 protein and is used in advance stages of breast cancer
● Women who tried Trastuzumab (Herceptin); cancer progressed
● Expensive; Coverage (Doc A)
● Side effects depend on the drug that is taken
Document B
● Relying on actress “medical expertise”
● Breast exams
● That article talks about giving regular breast exams to yourself
● The self check is particularly helpful in saving breasts and finding tumors that are
mammographically invisible, which are about 10-12 % of breast cancers
● Dose-dense therapy; addition of taxane drugs can be effective (Doc B)
● For women with progressive cancers
● Addition of Herceptin for women who express the HER2 breast cancer gene are typically less
responsive to chemo can have their risk decrease significantly
Document C
● Measured stress levels of patients
● Breast cancer patients treated with Tykerb
● Prostate cancer patients treated with Drug Y
● Patients stress levels progressively decreased as treatment continued
● The prostate cancer patients significant decrease in stress levels (Doc C)
● When compared to stress levels of breast cancer patients
Document D
● Information is from a credible medical journal (Journal of the American
Medical Association)
● Comparing the effectiveness of Tykerb
● Other included variables (D)
● When paired with additional treatments such as St. John’s Wort and chemotherapy
● Other variables- whether patient worked full time, whether the disease was metastatic before
treatment
Document E
Top Figure
● TYKERB
● Shows decrease in breast tumor size
● 1250 mg (most effective) decreases tumor size 35%
Bottom Figure
● Cabazitaxel
● Shows a decrease in prostate tumor size
● 1250 mg (most effective) decreased tumor size 60% (Doc E)
Document F
● Many Stage 4 patients seek alternative medicine options such as herbal remedies
● Has had positive feedback from research and preclinical studies even cancer patients and
survivors
● Herbal medicine is recognized in Europe under its own category of regulation
● Not recognized in the U.S.
● Diet can play a large role in preventing cancer
● Curcumin has been found to influence 60 receptor targets in the cancer process
● Southeast Asian countries have a far less likely chance of developing cancer based on their
diet
● No case reports on any harmful interactions between botanical medicine and conventional
treatment (Doc F)
● Misunderstanding of herbal medicine in the medical community
● Botanical medicines can be used to counter the effects of traditional oncology
Document G
Abstract A
● Cabazitaxel novel tubulin-binding taxane drug
● Patients were treated with 10 mg of prednisone daily
● Tests were performed on prostate cancer patients
● Tests yielded positive results when cabazitaxel and prednisone treatments
were combined (Doc G)
● Prostate cancer among patients was metastatic castration-resistant prostate
cancer
● Test performed on those who had a progression in their disease despite the treatment
● Survival rates were improved by the combination of treatments
Document G
Abstract B
● Use of herbal remedies
● Not enough evidence of herbal medicine benefits
● Patients used herbal remedies to treat cancers and reduce the toxic effects of
chemotherapy
● Combination of herbal and St. John’s wort treatments still unclear (Doc G)
● Patients used herbal remedies to treat cancers and reduce the toxic effects of
chemotherapy
● There have not been enough trials performed to produce any significant evidence that
herbal medicines can slow the progression of breast cancer
● The effects of combining herbal remedies with St. John’s wort have not gone through
many tests, but there have been reports of them interacting with each other which
causes some concern over the safety of patients using both
Document H
● St. John’s Wort
● Show in a chart comparing various therapeutic approaches to breast cancer, based on that
chart
● When Tykerb was used with St. John’s it worked 5% of the time and when used on its own as
a therapeutic approach it worked 2% of the time
● Founder is Ryan Forbes
● Sale price
● St. John’s wort is listed on document H as on sale for 54% off the normal price Facebook
image (Doc H)
Strengths
● Patient
○ Tykerb can be used with other drugs such as chemotherapeutic regimen and have a positive
response rates (Doc D)
○ Can be mixed with Herbal medicine to reduce chemo symptoms (Doc F)
○ 1250 mg of Tykerb can reduce tumor size by 35% (Doc E)
● Company
○ Expensive and people are willing to pay that money (Doc A)
○ Own rights to drug so other companies have to pay to use it
○ More effective than St. John’s Wort (Doc D)
Limitations
● Patient
○ Can be expensive and not always covered by insurance (Doc A)
○ Is not always responsive to the patient (Doc D)
○ Only HER2 expressing tumors can be treated with Tykerb (“Mechanism of Action”)
○ Only reserved for last resort treatment (Doc A)
● Company
○ Lose money if it sells poorly
○ New drugs could come out that are more effective
○ Expensive to produce
Recommendations
● Keep investing in Tykerb
○ No signs of new drugs
○ It’s effective
References
● Document A
Document B
● Document C
● Document D
● Document E
● Document F
● Document G
● Document H
● MECHANISM OF ACTION. (n.d.). Retrieved from
[Link]