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-   -   Anyone have to stop Herceptin after 6 months (https://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=51010)

Bonnie D 08-08-2011 06:22 PM

Anyone have to stop Herceptin after 6 months
 
Hello. It's been awhile since I posted. My sister was diagnosed in October 2007 as Her2 positive. She had a double mastectomy (only needed single), aggressive chemo followed by 6 months of Herceptin. She had to stop because of heart issues.

There wasn't any lymph node involvement but because of being Her2, she chose the aggressive route on advise from doctor.

She is going on 4 years NED. I know she gets anxious at times because she never got a full year of the herceptin and because of this is fearful of recurrence. I hope to convey some positive stories. Can anyone help. I know at the time there wasn't enough research to say that getting 6 months of Herceptin was as effective of a year of it. Your thoughts?

Jackie07 08-09-2011 12:46 PM

Re: Anyone have to stop Herceptin after 6 months
 
There was a study (FinHer?) done 4, 5 years ago showing 9 weeks of weekly Herceptin achieved 98% of the same effect of having Herceptin for one full year.

I had exactly the same procedure in June, 2007 with just 4 weekly Herceptin after 6 rounds (x 3 weeks) of TCH. And so far everything's fine breast cancer wise.

Jackie07 08-09-2011 12:52 PM

Re: Anyone have to stop Herceptin after 6 months
 
Here's the link to the studies on shortened Herceptin administration:

http://www.womenshealthcouncil.org.n...Herceptin.html

Jackie07 08-11-2011 04:00 PM

Re: Anyone have to stop Herceptin after 6 months
 
The most recent on FinHer (notice it's for early stage):

Acta Oncol. 2011 Apr;50(3):344-52. Epub 2011 Feb 8.
Short-course adjuvant trastuzumab therapy in early stage breast cancer in Finland: cost-effectiveness and value of information analysis based on the 5-year follow-up results of the FinHer Trial.

Purmonen TT, Pänkäläinen E, Turunen JH, Asseburg C, Martikainen JA.
Source

University of Eastern Finland, School of Pharmacy, Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research Unit, Kuopio, Finland. Timo.Purmonen@uef.fi

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Trastuzumab is a standard treatment of HER2-positive early breast cancer in many countries, and it is usually given as a one year adjuvant treatment. However, its cost-effectiveness has not been assessed in Finland. The Finland Herceptin (FinHer) trial has compared a shorter 9-week treatment protocol against no trastuzumab with promising results. The aim of this study was to assess the potential cost-effectiveness of the 9-week treatment based on the recently published five-year follow-up results of the FinHer trial.
METHODS:

An evaluation model of breast cancer treatment was constructed using fitted survival estimates and a long-term Markov model. The cost-effectiveness of 9-week adjuvant treatment was assessed in a Finnish setting, compared to treatment without trastuzumab. The analysis was performed from a societal perspective, and a 3% discount rate was applied for future costs and outcomes. Value of information analysis was performed to estimate the potential value of further research.
RESULTS:

According to the probabilistic analysis, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was €12 000 per quality adjusted life year (QALY), and €9300 per life year gained (LYG), when comparing adjuvant trastuzumab therapy to standard treatment without trastuzumab. The modelled incremental outcomes for trastuzumab treatment were 0.66 QALY and 0.85 LYG for a lifetime perspective. Value of information analysis showed that additional research on treatment effects would be most valuable for reducing uncertainty in the adoption decision.
CONCLUSIONS:

Adjuvant 9-week trastuzumab is likely to be a cost-effective treatment in the Finnish setting. Results from an ongoing trial comparing adjuvant 9-week treatment with the 12-month treatment will play a key role in addressing the uncertainty related to the treatment effect and potential cost-effectiveness of these two treatment protocols.

Candy Jacobson 01-23-2012 12:41 PM

Re: Anyone have to stop Herceptin after 6 months
 
Bonnie,
I was on Herceptin for a period of 2 years. You have to remember to check your heart every once in awhile if you are on this drug. Discuss this with your doctor too, if in doubt.
Also, the body does become resistant towards Herceptin after awhile. It is a fairly good drug, with mimimal side effects I found out.
Hang in there, never give up.
Candy


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