What is the normal practice in the USA

[pibikay]

My wife is scheduled for her 6th Chemo and 5th herceptin on the 29th.The Onc initially iinformed us that she has to undego 9 courses of Herceptin.But now he advises that after the 6th Chemo/5th herceptin he will have a PET scan done and later decide and that he may switch over to some tablets.Can you guide me what is the usual/normal dosage of herceptin there.
Wishing allof you the best

[sarah]

Hello,
Since the oncologist has mentioned tablets, that will probably mean Tykerb which suppresses both the HER1 as well as HER2.
I hope your wife is tolerating the treatment and that her status improves with this regime.
Health and Happiness
hugs and love
Sarah

[Joan M]

It sounds like the tablets could be Tykerb (lapatinib), which is another HER2+ breast cancer antibody that targets the HER1, rather than HER2, pathway. The drug is often a follow-up antibody to Herceptin. Sometimes Tykerb is used with Herceptin, but using them concurrently in the U.S. can be an insurance problem. That is, the cost would not be covered, even though a study showed that using them together can be beneficial and the oncologist is recommending the combination.

Tablets could also refer to Xeloda, a chemotherapy drug often used with Herceptin. So, switching may mean changing the chemo drug rather than the antibody. However, it seems like you're referring to Herceptin.

Please give your wife my warm regards.

Joan

[Jackie07]

When it is well tolerated, Herceptin is usually given for a whole year. Study has shown that 11 weekly Herceptin has similar result (98% when compared to the 1 year regimen)

A PET scan is standard procedure during treatment when the doctor wanted to see (compare) the effect of chemo/Herceptin. I would think he's talking about Tykerb because it has been proven to be effective in treating Her2 breat cancer. What I remembered reading about Tykerb is that it is a much smaller molecule able to penetrate many membranes that are hard to pass through for Herceptin (a bigger molecule.)