Drop in MUGA
 

Good morning. I have been on Herceptin for 4 months. My MUGA has gone from 69 to 55. My oncologist wants to repeat the MUGA in 6 weeks. That is all. Since I have a drop of 20% should I be a bit more worried. I noted to her prior to this last MUGA (last week) that I have been coughing and have chest tightness. Shouldnt I stop herceptin every three weeks for now? Is this reversable? Any med's to help my heart.

Please offer any advice you can. I appreciate you all. Kim 43 years old. Minneapolis. (p.s. done with AD/T now chest wall radiation. On my 19th of 30)

Oops, I just noticed my typo. I just finished AC/T on 11-24

Expect side effects from Herceptin...
 

My MUGA has also dropped dramatically. I was an "impressive" 86% after AC+T and now am "borderline" at 52%. I am 43 yrs old. Stage I.
I am also on 3 week infusions since July '05. I also have MUGA's every 2 to 3 months.
The Herceptin has many side effects, I too have had a little cough/ tightness-to the point that I went for a PET and CT. Both were negative...
I have been on weekly Herceptin; biweekly and now every three weeks. For me, no method provided any lessening of side effects. Some members to this website have stated that weekly dosages have decreased cardiac toxicity because there is no "loading dose" like you have at three weeks.

I have tingles in my left arm and hand. My BC was in my right breast. I also get itsy heart fluttering sensations. All these are side effects, keep your MUGA's in check and listen to your body.

According to the literature I have read (and from members of this site); the effects of Herceptin are reversible. Yet, the drug has not been around that long to provide 10+ years of data. So, we really don't know the long-term effects.

My onc wants me to stay on Herceptin- every three weeks for 2 years. After that, he wants to increase the time between infusions. We are not sure how often, but at least in a couple of years more data will have been collected. I will try to stay on the Herceptin as long as I can.

warmly,

Maria

I'm not an expert in this
 

but my Onc. says that as long as the output it greater than 50% than you can stay on herceptin. If it drops below 50, then they'll stop the herceptin.
I was on herceptin alone from Oct 04 to Feb 05, then I had an echocardiogram (because the MUGAs were too much for me) and my ejection fraction (I think thats what its called) went from mid-60s to 49. She stopped the herceptin - I took NO heart meds - and just had an echocardiogram this morning and my ejection fraction came back up to normal on its own.
I'll start herceptin with Nevalbine on Friday.
Good luck

I would reccommend getting an echo to check if your muga scan was valid. I'll share my experience with muga scans as I have before: ' My first muga scan reading was 49. Drs. weren't sure if they would give me herceptin. I did 4 rounds of A/C and then had another muga. It then read a 58. So according to these readings, the 3 months of harsh A/C actually improved my heart significantly. My oncologist laughed at the results. Obviously there is a large margin of error in these muga scans. '
I highly suggest not putting to much weight in one muga scan reading. I think there's a significant margin of error.
Good luck with your treatment.
Margaret