Penn preclinical study outlines cardiovascular side effects of breast cancer drug

(University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine) A receptor protein that is the target of the breast cancer drug trastuzumab (Herceptin) is needed for proper heart blood-vessel development. These discoveries have implications for better understanding the cardiovascular side effects of trastuzumab commonly used for cancer and provide an example of integration at the molecular level of pathways involved in tissue growth and blood-vessel patterning.