FDA Approves New Treatment For Late-Stage Breast Cancer

The Food and Drug Administration Feb. 22 approved Kadcyla (ado-trastuzumab emtansine), a new therapy for patients with HER2-positive, late-stage (metastatic) breast cancer.

Kadcyla is intended for patients previously treated with trastuzumab, another anti-HER2 therapy, and taxanes, a class of chemotherapy drugs commonly used for breast cancer, FDA said. Kadcyla is marketed by Genentech, a member of the Roche Group that is based in South San Francisco, Calif.

Genentech said in a statement that the drug will be available in the United States within two weeks.

“Kadcyla is trastuzumab connected to a drug called DM1 that interferes with cancer cell growth,” ...