Tykerb-Only Treatment

[Becky]

I think that Herceptin should never be discontinued but that things need to get added to it.

[Lani]

If you look again at my MUST READ thread, it and scores and scores of other studies show the value of the continuation of herceptin beyond progression ie, it is not that herceptin is not effective, but that another pathway needs to be blocked in addition. Most experts in the field concur that few cancers will be cured with single agent orchestrated lethality, but rather with the combination of a few targeted therapies ie, let's imagine a combination like herceptin+pertumab+ tykerb + anti Estrogen agent if necessary. or herceptin+mTor inhibitor+HSP inhibitor etc.

In those cases where a particularly overwhelming driving mutation or fusion protein is found, monotherapy may be appropriate, but those will probably be the vast minority of cases.

I will post an article/link from today's NYT to illustrate that concept(has to do with leukemia, but principle is the same)

[Rolepaul]

As always, Lani has great points. There are some women that can have a single med recovery, but the majority will need additional medications to attack resistant cells. TDM-1 has a dual action mode and may show additional single med effectiveness, but it is likely that a secondary medicine (Tykerb as an example) may be necessary for most women. The drug attached to Herceptin that makes up TDM-1 is significantly enough different that I have high hopes for it, but realistically there will need to be additional drugs in all likelihood. Even Pertuzumab with TDM-1 or Herceptin will be beneficial in many cases as they are two attachment points on the Her+ protein. This is a rapidly developing area of medicine that will be clarified for our daughters and grand-daughters. Even treatment in the brain/spine is undergoing significant change with drastic improvements in lifespan and removal of disease. I hope Herceptin in the near future becomes the "Polio" of today, with a vaccine to prevent occurence. My hopes are with my co-horts in getting this disease to only being seen in textbooks.