Question for HERA participants

[Christine MH-UK]

When I was getting my treatment today, I met a woman who had been on the HERA trial and had had a recurrence despite having had a year of herceptin. What blew me away was that she said that she had never had any scans before she received herceptin on the trial, so there was no way of telling whether herceptin had really failed in her case or whether it had kept already existing tumours on her spine in check for that year.

If patients weren't checked for secondaries before the trial, then it seems like the trial might greatly underestimate the benefits of the treatment for women with primaries. If you were on the HERA trial, what scans did you get before joining?

Take care,

Christine

[Unregistered]

I was not on the HERA trial but received the drug in the same way. My onco scanned me (and did an echo) prior to starting the Herceptin infusions.

[chrislmelb]

I don't know what they call the HERA trial now it has changed. I am receiving herceptin for two years now, 18 months after chemo finished. Before i entered the trial and all the way through i have been screened regularly. The original tests were (i think) MUGA, ECG, chest Xray, bloods. My memory is a bit hazy now. I didn't need bone and CT scans as i had had them months before, so they were still ok. Then when i was to start Herceptin in November i had all the tests again. So i find it hard to believe that the woman you mentined had no tests before hand. Maybe she is confused and was never actually placed on trial but thought she was due to previous discussions??!! I know a lot of people do get a bit mixed up about things.
Take care
Christine

[Christine MH-UK]

She seemed fairly coherent, not at all out of it.

Also, at the time she was diagnosed, very few national health service oncologists were using herceptin for primary cancer patients off trial and definitely not at the hospital at which she had her chemotherapy for her primary cancer.