[chrisy]

Hi Penny,
Sorry you are getting this news. Surely not what you wanted to see.

I'm not a doctor, and of course everyone responds differently. But from the history you posted, it seems to me that there are many options available to you. It's not an easy road, but you just need to keep plugging away looking for the right combinations that will work for you. The parp inhibitor may work well for you, and in a trial you are monitored very closely which I think is always good.

I view your comment about herceptin resistance differently. Most people do eventually develop resistance to herceptin, but the way my onc put it was "the disease has figured out a way to escape the herceptin" but there are many studies confirming that continuing herceptin in conjunction with a chemo or other agent is still synergistic. That is, you will get better results keeping herceptin in the mix even if it is not sufficient to control the cancer by itself.

As Rich notes, there are also other targeted agents, most notably Pertuzumab which should be approved (I hope!) by this summer and TDM1 which probably is still at least a year away but is available in trials. Both of these are very exciting therapies, and basically all Her2 directed agents are developed with those whose cancers have developed resistance to herceptin in mind.

The word Coolbreeze was looking for is chemoembolization, where they deliver chemo directly to the tumor via the blood vessels within the liver. I'm not sure it's widely done in the US tho, but may be worth checking into.

So, do not lose heart, you have options and the right opportunity will present itself to you.