Breast cancer is really one of the most dreaded and deadly diseases for women. Based on the statistics gathered by the American Cancer Society approximately 180, 000 new cases are detected every year. Treatment for this disease is a painful and long drawn-out process. A lot of breast cancer patients rely on drugs to slow down the growth of the tumor cells. A newly developed drug called Tykerb (lapatinib) has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be used in a combination treatment for women who have received previous treatment with other cancer drugs like anthracycline, a taxane and trastuzumab (Herceptin).

The new drug Tykerb is more effective when used with the cancer drug capectabine (Xeloda). Tykerb is what they call as kinase inhibitor that works through multiple pathways or targets to deny the tumor cells of the signal they need in order to grow. Tykerb acts on what they call HER2 positive breast cancer cells and have been treated with trastuzumab and are no longer profiting from it.

Approval of the said drug is done after extensive trial and testing have been conducted on over 400 women with advanced breast cancer with HER2 positive. This newly developed drug will bring new hope among cancer-inflicted women around the world.

"This approval is a step forward in making new treatments available for patients who have progression of their breast cancer after treatment with some of the most effective breast cancer therapies available," said Steven Galson, MD, M.P.H., Director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "New targeted therapies such as Tykerb are helping expand options for patients.”