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Lani · 02-11-2008, 02:47 PM

fertility ie, fertility WHILE herceptin is still being given. As I recall, It is not recommended to get pregnant while on herceptin as her2 neu is important in the migration of the neural crest (which becomes the brain and spinal cord among other things) and respiratory and GI tract development in the embryo --although there are cases where normal children were born despite herceptin treatment (probably has to do with the timing of when the embryo was exposed to herceptin)

I cannot recall reading anything about difficulties with fertility FOLLOWING completion of herceptin treatment that were specific for herceptin, although it is SO hard to dissect out what effects are due to chemo vs hormonal manipulation vs herceptin that I doubt this information will be available for a long time (if ever, with certainty at least)

Theoretically(and this is TRULY A GUESS and not from someone qualified to know, just from my readings) based on the way herceptin is assumed to work (and it is assumed to work in multiple ways) the effect of herceptin on the immune system, ability of cells to migrate, etc should not be expected to last after the last herceptin antibodies are no longer in your system. That is usually assumed to be six months after you stop herceptin. But as (at least in metastatic breast cancer patients) there has been shown to be a 40% difference(variability) in the rate of clearance of herceptin out of the system between the fastest and slowest "metabolizers" of herceptin, that figure may not hold for you.

It seems the first two years after surgery are the most worrisome for early recurrence (not a guarantee and there is no evidence yet that the same picture of recurrence will be true for those for whom herceptin is effective)...I suppose you must consider whether you would want to be pregnant during that time or shortly thereafter anyway, as you would not be able to breast feed if receiving treatment, may not have the energy to run after a toddler, etc let alone the long term prospects ...

I know you are newly married and feel the clock is ticking but...I am sure there are those on this board who can provide additional input on this matter.

If you will clarify if you are talking about fertility problems more than 6 months after stopping herceptin, I will try to do a literature search. If you are asking about trying to get pregnant while on herceptin I will send you a different set of articles. Those reports are of those who INADVERTANTLY got pregnant while on herceptin or had to be treated with herceptin when advanced/metastatic bc occured after already pregnant as I recall.

Hope this helped!

02-11-2008, 02:47 PM	#6
Lani Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4,778	I assume you are talking about longterm vs shortterm fertility ie, fertility WHILE herceptin is still being given. As I recall, It is not recommended to get pregnant while on herceptin as her2 neu is important in the migration of the neural crest (which becomes the brain and spinal cord among other things) and respiratory and GI tract development in the embryo --although there are cases where normal children were born despite herceptin treatment (probably has to do with the timing of when the embryo was exposed to herceptin) I cannot recall reading anything about difficulties with fertility FOLLOWING completion of herceptin treatment that were specific for herceptin, although it is SO hard to dissect out what effects are due to chemo vs hormonal manipulation vs herceptin that I doubt this information will be available for a long time (if ever, with certainty at least) Theoretically(and this is TRULY A GUESS and not from someone qualified to know, just from my readings) based on the way herceptin is assumed to work (and it is assumed to work in multiple ways) the effect of herceptin on the immune system, ability of cells to migrate, etc should not be expected to last after the last herceptin antibodies are no longer in your system. That is usually assumed to be six months after you stop herceptin. But as (at least in metastatic breast cancer patients) there has been shown to be a 40% difference(variability) in the rate of clearance of herceptin out of the system between the fastest and slowest "metabolizers" of herceptin, that figure may not hold for you. It seems the first two years after surgery are the most worrisome for early recurrence (not a guarantee and there is no evidence yet that the same picture of recurrence will be true for those for whom herceptin is effective)...I suppose you must consider whether you would want to be pregnant during that time or shortly thereafter anyway, as you would not be able to breast feed if receiving treatment, may not have the energy to run after a toddler, etc let alone the long term prospects ... I know you are newly married and feel the clock is ticking but...I am sure there are those on this board who can provide additional input on this matter. If you will clarify if you are talking about fertility problems more than 6 months after stopping herceptin, I will try to do a literature search. If you are asking about trying to get pregnant while on herceptin I will send you a different set of articles. Those reports are of those who INADVERTANTLY got pregnant while on herceptin or had to be treated with herceptin when advanced/metastatic bc occured after already pregnant as I recall. Hope this helped!