Lauren RE: Tamoxifen - an analogy to Herceptin....

Lauren
My mom has been on Tamoxifen for 15 YEARS... she had 3 different types of BC in one breast, had a mastectomy and 19 lymph nodes removed of which 13 were positive. She always asks why she still is on the Tamoxifen...the oncologist tells her that she has never had a recurrence, so why not stay on it...she is 76 years old and has had no problems. As for Herceptin, my oncologist told me if it continues to do its thing, I will be on it at least 5 1/2 years, and possibly 7...
I only can hope I have the longevity my Mom has had.
Hugs
Sheila

For those of us HER2 pos, hormone neg gals, we have NO Tamoxifin or equivalent to help us out.
My med onc has never given me any time limit about staying on Herceptin. "Indefinite" was his answer. If this is for 10 years, it will be fine with me.
He cannot see into the future and know if my heart will hold out, if it will remain an effective anti-cancer drug for me, or if a new drug or vaccine will come along to take its place.
I know of no patients in my clinic who are stage IV and have been told they can only take Herceptin for a certain amount of time, such as the case with Tamoxifin.