Herceptin – A Monoclonal Antibody for Breast Cancer Treatment Now Available in Vietnam.
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| Herceptin (Image: orbisdesign) |
According to Associate Professor Nguyen Chan Hung, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Cancer Society, who presented at a scientific seminar on June 17, recent research achievements over the past decade have identified cancer as a genetic disease and introduced a new treatment method known as “targeted therapy”. This therapy specifically targets cancer cells that excessively express or overproduce a protein called HER-2, aiming to slow down or halt the growth of these cells.
Herceptin was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1998. In women with early-stage breast cancer, Herceptin reduces the risk of recurrence by 46% and helps extend the survival time of patients with metastatic breast cancer.
The current price of Herceptin is 13 million VND per vial, with an annual treatment cost of approximately 20,000 USD.
