DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR CURRENT MED REGIMEN IS, BUT HERCEPTIN'S DRUG WARNING INCLUDES PNEUMONITIS I BELIEVE AND I REMEMBERED FILING AWAY THE FOLLOWING:
1: Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2008 Mar 16 [Epub ahead of print]
Life-threatening interstitial lung disease associated with trastuzumab:
case report.
Pepels MJ, Boomars KA, van Kimmenade R, Hupperets PS.
Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital
Maastricht, P.O. Box 5800, 6202 AZ, Maastricht, The Netherlands,
mpepels@hotmail.com.
A female patient with HER2 positive, metastatic breast cancer
presented with pulmonary infiltrates, and a plural effusion dyspnoea
after several months of trastuzumab treatment. She had been treated
without complications with six courses of docetaxel and trastuzumab
in combination with dexamethasone with partial remission of disease.
Malignancy, infection and cardiomyopathy were excluded as causes of
dyspnoea. Pleural and broncheoalveolar fluid analyses (BAL) showed
eosinophils. A diagnosis of trastuzumab-induced pneumonitis was
made. After treatment with steroids there was gradual clinical
improvement and disappearance of infiltrates. Although a causative
association between trastuzumab and this patient's pulmonary
syndrome was not proven, the potential for this toxicity should be
considered.
PMID: 18343993 [PubMed - as supplied by
publisher]
NOTE THE ABOVE PATIENT'S PROBLEM WAS NOT PROVEN TO BE DUE TO HERCEPTIN, BUT THE DRUG INFORMATION LISTS PULMONARY SIDE EFFECTS
SO IT MIGHT BE WORTH HAVING YOUR ONCOLOGIST CALL ROCHE/GENENTECH AND SEE HOW MANY POST-MARKETING CASES LIKE YOURS THEY HAVE TALLIED AND WHAT WORKED FOR THEM
PLEASE DON'T PANIC FROM THIS INFO--IT IS MEANT TO HELP YOU GATHER WHATEVER INFO MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO GET YOU THE BEST TREATMENT
I ALSO DON'T KNOW HOW LONG IT IS SINCE YOU HAD THE RADIATION
DO THEY THINK IT IS MORE LIKELY IT IS DUE TO THE RADIATION, THE HERCEPTIN OR THE COMBINATION?
HOPE SOME OF THIS HELPED