KENILWORTH, New Jersey, October 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- Schering-Plough Sponsored Symposium at European Cancer Conference (ECCO13) Highlights Efficacy and Tolerability Profile of CAELYX(R)

OVERVIEW:

For breast cancer patients, commonly used chemotherapies have been associated with cardiotoxic effects, which may ultimately limit future treatment options. Based on this concern and promising results from prior clinical trials, CAELYX(R) (pegylated liposomal doxorubicin) is being studied for its efficacy and safety in the management of metastatic breast cancer. One particular area of interest and clinical research is the potential to safely combine CAELYX with trastuzumab in patients with HER2- positive tumors.

In advanced ovarian cancer, between 55% and 75% of women whose cancer responds to first-line therapy will relapse within two years. In planning subsequent treatment, the potential for the disease to be more or less sensitive to re-treatment with a platinum agent is a critical factor. The treatment-free or disease-free interval is the main factor in deciding subsequent therapy: more than 12 months = platinum sensitive, less than six months = platinum resistant.

CAELYX is the first anthracycline to show a significant level of efficacy in relapsed ovarian cancer. CAELYX is particularly effective in patients with partially platinum sensitive (6-12 months treatment-free) disease. Studies are therefore being conducted to further explore the efficacy of CAELYX in combination with a platinum but also to prolong the platinum-free interval.

A Schering-Plough sponsored symposium will examine these important issues: 16.00 - 18.00, Sunday, 30 October 2005 Palais des Congres, Salle 241

The symposium, chaired by Martine Piccart, MD, PhD, Head of the Medicine Department at the Jules Bordet Institute (Universite Libre de Bruxelles) and Chairwoman of the Breast International Group in Brussels, Belgium, will include:

- Anthracycline Rechallenge: Rationale in Metastatic Breast Cancer by PierFranco Conte, MD, Division of Medical Oncology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena Italy - Cardiotoxicity of Anthracyclines: Mechanism and Strategies for Protection by Thomas Suter, MD, Swiss Cardiovascular Center, Bern, Switzerland - New Combinations to Treat HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer by Nadia Harbeck, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Technical University of Munich, Germany - Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin: Long-Term Experience in Ovarian Cancer by Martin Gore, MD, Consultant Medical Oncologist, The Royal Marsden Hospital, London - Novel Chemotherapeutic Approaches in the Adjuvant Setting by Aron Goldhirsch, MD, Director of the Departmennt of Medicine at the Europea Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy; Chief of Medical Oncology, Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland; and a chair of the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) scientific committee

Web site: http://www.schering-plough.com