The results were shown in the first randomized phase II study comparing trastuzumab-DM1 (T-DM1) to Herceptin (trastuzumab) plus chemotherapy (docetaxel), the current standard of care for first line HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

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Paclitaxel comes from the Pacific yew, a small, slow-growing fir found in small pockets in the Pacific Northwest. (Docetaxel comes from the European yew.) Devising a synthetic version is difficult because the chemical is exceedingly complex, marked by concentric rings of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen.

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