[AlaskaAngel]

We each have had different experiences, and some of us have been around a little longer than others and have a somewhat different impression. For those who walked in to the oncologist's office and were offered trastuzumab with chemo at time of diagosis, it can seem like medical providers are miracle workers.

But for those HER2's who were a year out from completion of chemotherapy without any trastuzumab, listening to the ASCO announcement of the success of the trastuzumab trials was far less than impressive. The silence of the oncologists in our behalf was deafening. A week went by, and then a month... and then more months... and they made no recommendation at all for us. The only thing we had to hear over and over was the radio and TV news telling us how "all HER2 patients were being treated with trastuzumab". We were given no answers by any medical providers about what those patients who had completed chemo without it should do.

As anyone who was here then will remember, that meant that the vast majority of HER2 positives that were known at that time were left high and dry with no explanation from anyone. Eventually a very few scattered oncs here and there tried to say something supportive to us, but had no answer to give us. I can't respect that failure by medical providers to be honest with us and then to get down to it and DO THE HOMEWORK in our behalf.

So here we are, almost a decade later, still not having clear answers as to whether trastuzumab alone has value or not, because of a decades old practice of being forced to continue to use the "gold standard" drugs that are not targeted drugs but applied randomly.

I support these women (and the researchers involved in it) for stepping out in front and having what it takes to do treatment without chemo with no more garantee than any one of us gets by doing chemo combo treatments.

AlaskaAngel