Herceptin, a popular Genentech drug for fighting advanced breast cancer, causes heart problems more frequently than researchers initially thought, according to a new study.

But most of those problems can be treated with other drugs and Herceptin’s benefits outweigh its risks, concluded the study released Monday in the online edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

“It’s quite good that we can manage this safely,” said Dr. Francisco Esteva, the lead author for the study by the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Herceptin, approved in 1998 for certain women whose breast cancer had spread, had been known to cause some heart problems. Previous studies found heart problems in 11 percent of women who took Herceptin in combination with a common type of chemotherapy.

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