[Joe]

I know that this issue was discussed here several weeks ago. I found this interesting information this morning:

FinHer study

The data on the 116 patients in the FinHer study is for 3 years of follow-up and reveals that short duration concurrent treatment with Herceptin is effective at preventing recurrence of disease. In
Finland both the 52-week course of concurrent treatment with Herceptin and the 9-week course are available to women. However Finnish doctors prefer the 9-week course because there is less likelihood of cardiac damage and because the doctors were involved in the FinHer trial and saw for themselves the benefits to their patients of the 9-week course. This experience makes a big difference when doctors are making recommendations to their patients on best treatment options.
Sledge study

The data on the 227 patients in the Sledge study is for 5 years of follow-up and it showed no difference in survival rates between those who received 10 weeks of concurrent treatment with Herceptin and those who received it concurrently for 52 weeks.It is obvious that the issue of concurrent treatment with Herceptin versus sequential treatment is at the core of this debate. The results of these studies revealed that concurrent treatment with Herceptin results in significantly better efficacy than sequential treatment with the drug, all of which casts grave doubts on the superiority of the sequential treatment regimen being promoted by Roche.... A further trial is being planned to find the answers. It will be headed by Professor Heikke Joensuu of the University of Helsinki in Finland, who headed the FinHer trial and who has extensive international experience in trial design and management.

Regards
Joe