ammunition for those whose drs, governments try to limit time on herceptin

[Lani]

ammunition--
1: Breast. 2008 Apr 29 [Epub ahead of print]

Do HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer patients benefit from the use of trastuzumab beyond disease progression? A mono-institutional experience and systematic review of observational studies.

Fabi A, Metro G, Ferretti G, Giannarelli D, Di Cosimo S, Papaldo P, Mottolese M, Carlini P, Felici A, Russillo M, Cognetti F.
Division of Medical Oncology A, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Via Elio Chianesi 53, 00144, Rome, Italy.
Though preclinical evidence supports the protracted use of trastuzumab to reach sustained anti-tumor activity, the activity of trastuzumab beyond disease progression remains controversial in HER-2 over-expressing (HER-2+) metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. We retrospectively evaluated a total of 59 patients with HER-2+MBC treated at our institution with trastuzumab-based therapies. Our results were added to those obtained in similar observational studies and summary estimates for overall response (OR) and clinical benefit (CB) to first and second trastuzumab-based lines were calculated. In our series of patients we observed an OR of 59.3% and 27% for first and second trastuzumab-based lines, respectively, with a corresponding CB of 83% and 62.2%, respectively. Time to first and second progression were 9.5 months and 6.7 months, respectively. The combined analysis showed an OR of 50% for first trastuzumab-based regimen and 21.2% for second trastuzumab-based line. The corresponding values for CB were 77.6% and 42.6%, respectively. A second trastuzumab-containing regimen beyond progression yields a considerable rate of OR and CB in HER-2+MBC patients. Randomized trials are warranted.
PMID: 18450443 [PubMed]
in the face of so much sad news it seems necessary to restock the arsenal of information