HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - ~Rich66~Update on Mom If You have A Moment

Debbie L. · 04-11-2009, 08:32 AM

Hi Rich,

Maybe the person reading the dosing to you got it wrong? The whole meaning of a "loading" dose is to get a therapeutic level into the system at the onset with a higher dose initially, and then to maintain it thereafter (with, duh, the "maintenance" dose). I'll be eager to hear what explanation they give you for this weird dosing. Every reference that I can find has just the two options, as you noted, for either weekly or q3 weekly dosing. That seems to be the same whether it's given adjuvantly or for stage IV and regardless of what else it's given with.

And some kind of cardiac monitoring is standard, per NCCN guidelines and others, for Herceptin with adjuvant treatment, but I can't find mention of cardiac monitoring in the guidelines for advanced disease. It seems like at least a baseline LVEF would be needed.

Debbie Laxague

04-11-2009, 08:32 AM	#7
Debbie L. Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 463	That's weird dosing - did you ask why? Hi Rich, Maybe the person reading the dosing to you got it wrong? The whole meaning of a "loading" dose is to get a therapeutic level into the system at the onset with a higher dose initially, and then to maintain it thereafter (with, duh, the "maintenance" dose). I'll be eager to hear what explanation they give you for this weird dosing. Every reference that I can find has just the two options, as you noted, for either weekly or q3 weekly dosing. That seems to be the same whether it's given adjuvantly or for stage IV and regardless of what else it's given with. And some kind of cardiac monitoring is standard, per NCCN guidelines and others, for Herceptin with adjuvant treatment, but I can't find mention of cardiac monitoring in the guidelines for advanced disease. It seems like at least a baseline LVEF would be needed. Debbie Laxague