Drug helps against certain breast cancers

In nearly one-third of breast cancer cases, a gene encoding a protein called HER2 runs amok. The resulting oversupply of HER2 makes the cancer more aggressive and prone to spread.

Scientists created a stir in 1998 when they reported preliminary findings that the drug trastuzumab, a bioengineered antibody, could prolong survival in some breast cancer patients by neutralizing excess HER2.