HER2 and Celebrex analogues

Here is an interesting article,. I don't know how many of you are taking celebrex are part of your treatment regime but here's further evidence why you should. More effective analogues are being successfully tested on Breast Cancers

"Conclusion

We determined that Celecoxib analogues are potent inhibitors of P-Akt signalling and kill breast cancer cells that overexpress HER-2. We also defined an association between HER-2 and P-Akt in primary breast tissues, suggesting that these inhibitors may benefit patients in need of new treatment options."

For those who want to read the whole article: http://breast-cancer-research.com/content/7/5/R796

Regards,
Al

Al,

I so happen to be taking Celebrex currently for a pain on my left shoulder (due to cancerous supraclavicular nodes), along with 2 extra strength Tylenol. There is actually a lot of controversy on using Celebrex. I do recall that Celebrex was pulled off the market not too long ago -- maybe last year -- due to some kind of heart damage, but I do not know the full story, though.

I am taking Celebrex & Tylenol, because I turn out to be allergic to narcotics, such as morphine, vicodin and now percocet. I had just spent the Labor weekend at the hospital, while I was having allergic reactions to the percocet (nausea & vomits).

Celebrex (once a day) & Tylenol (a couple every 6 hours) really takes away the shoulder pain. I am in the process of checking out meditation, because I happen to be one of those people who has never been totally comfortable in taking medications, even just for pain alone.

Thanks for bringing this to attention.

Also, I am interested in any contradictory input as well. I just don't understand why Celebrex, all of a sudden, got a bad rap...

PS: My apologies for misspelling your country "Cananda"; I know the name has only one "n" in it -- not two. My mind apparently took a break at that time during writing your message! :-)

Al:

I take Celebrex for my back; 200 mg twice a day but it looks like that it is the Celebrex analogues that are effective aginst Herceptin resistant HER 2 cells and not Celebrex itself. I wishs the Celebrex analogues were available.

Barb

My two cents...without reading the whole article yet, I think Celebrex and its analogues are probably working on inhibiting the cox-2 mechanism. Studies indicate that her-2 mediated cancers have tons of cox-2. Would love to learn more about this topic as it and the glutamate are tying into my own research at unexpected points. Many thanks for these great articles, Al. Fyi, Gina

P.S. Barbara, if it really is the cox-2 mechanism involved and not something more complex..do not worry, your Celebrex inhibits cox-2 just as well or even better than some of the analogues --of course the role of cox -2 in cancer continues to be debated feverishly...smile..like so much else. My onc was just up in New York for that big her-2 conference and she came back disheartened that there is still not a lot of reliable data on what causes her-2 and how best to combat it and said there was even a lot of disagreement among oncs about how to use herceptin, whether to follow markers or not, what, if any role antibiotics can play, etc. In the end, she said she was putting her money on clinical experience as she thinks the clinicians are going to learn best how to use herceptin by simply using it long before the science - types figure it all out...hmmm...she may be right, although I hope science can help us out SOONER rather than later...smile-GP

[StephN]

Hi -
Thanks, Al.
This is pretty recent write-up.

I was put on Celebrex when it was determined that my liver and bone mets were REALLY in remission. That was in July of 2002.
I took Celebrex daily until earlier this year - maybe it was first part of March??
Anyway, my med onc and I decided that maybe it would be a good idea to discontinue it in light of the info coming out regarding heart damage and the pull out of Vioxx. I was also having a complete workup of my breathing functions and heart about that time.

I had been wondering if i should go back on it. Guess I will query the doc next time I see him.

Steph,
If it were me, I would take it, in fact I do for colon cancer inhibition (daily doses have been show to reduce the incidence of...). All the bad press around celebrex happened as fall-out from the Vioxx thing. The celebrex dosage used in the study (the famous heart-attack risk study) was at 400 mg 2 x day. The standard dose for COX2 inhibition is 100 mg 2 X day.
Regards,
Al

Recommended dosage of Celebrex for myself is: 1 or 2 tablet each 200mg, I try to take only 1 per day. So far, it has been working good -- Celebrex really takes pain TOTALLY off my left shoulder.

My onc took me off celebrex when I started herceptin due to heart concerns.

Has anyone else been told to stop for this reason?