BOSTON -- There is a promising new treatment for an aggressive form of breast cancer.

NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh reported that it's a once-a-day-pill that's shown to fight breast cancer, while allowing patients to stay home for treatment. A clinical trial of the drug is now under way in Boston, and it's enrolling patients.

Christy Laurendeau is a wife, mother of two and a breast cancer survivor.

"No one wants to go through chemo. It's about as scary as being told you have cancer," Laurendeau said.

She was diagnosed with HER-2 positive breast cancer -- one of the most aggressive types.

"Every year, about 9 percent, almost 10 percent, suffer reoccurrence, and that just adds up. After three years it's 30 percent, and after five years it's half the women. What we are looking for is to cut that at least in half, probably more than in half," Masschusetts General Hospital's Dr. Paul Goss said.

Laurendeau and thousands of other women around the world will be testing a new pill called Tykerb. So far, doctors said, the side effects are minor -- just diarrhea and skin rashes compared to the severe effects of Herceptin -- the most common treatment for women with breast cancer.

"Herceptin has a rare but important side effect on the heart. It's particularly toxic on the heart. Tykerb looks to be less toxic on the heart, if at all," Goss said.

But Tykerb may work better. It gets inside, attacking the proteins that cause cancer.

"You shut down the ability of the cancer cells to both proliferate and grow, as well as you increase its death rate," Goss said.

Another advantage for Laurendeau is that she will take Tykerb once a day at home. There is no need for hospital visits that can be emotionally draining to patients and their families.

"It changes your daily routine. Your life works around that as opposed to being a pill that you can take with your vitamins," she said.