i am writing for my daughter who could not access the message board.
she knows someone in connecticut who is also in the trial and gets herceptin every three weeks but from time she comes to hospital until she leaves it is 40 minutes. (a half hour of the i.v. of herceptin). my daughter has the i.v. of herceptin for an hour and a half and then has to wait to see if there is any reaction.
she wants to know if that is necessary? thanks M.

I am on the HERA trial and receive Herceptin every three weeks. The infusion takes one and a half hours. The nurses told me that whilst it is considered safe to administer the dose over a shorter period the HERA protocol requires it to be over an hour and a half.

thank you for answering. in the realm of things this should not be important (the time she has to be in the hospital) but she misses work (normalsy) and there is so much fear and somehow she is focusing on this. just being in the oncology ward again makes her feel sick again. she had a hard time when she was on the chemo A/C and then Taxol done before the surgery. after the surgery was the radiation.
she feels lucky to have been accepted for the study on herceptin (she is in the group who will be getting it for one year) but nothing is smooth sailing. good luck to you. M.

Hi My am living in the UK and was randomised to recieve Herceptin for one year I finished last month! The year quickly dissappears and I realise its hard going back onto a chemo ward but its worth it. The dose given on the hera trial is higher than that given to patients with advanced disease who recieve it weekly and that is why it is administered more slowly primarily to ensure there is no reaction to the monoclonal antibody. The first is the longest wait 4 hours after finishing but after that it should only be 30 mins after you have completed.

I suffered from very little side effects and all my heart tests where fine too.

Diagnosed Aug 02 Lumpectomy 1.5 cm tumour ER+ve PR +ve 1 node involved. Followed by mastectomy as DCIS found. Then 4x FEC and 4 x Taxotere in TACT trial. I had my ovaries removed due to age so no Zoladex and now on Tamoxifen and completed 1 year of herceptin HER2++

According to protocol they are supposed to give it over 1.5 hours and observe for a reaction. The first few times I recieved it they did exactly that but after I had no reaction they would give it over 45 minutes and then let me go.