"Early stage" and Herceptin

"Early stage bc" has commonly been defined as breast cancer that has not spread beyond the breast and the associated lymph nodes. It was an assessment based on consideration of how much risk patient was thought to be dealing with.

However, when it comes to the recent information about Herceptin, that definition may no longer apply.

In reading Janet/FL's earlier post about her efforts to get Herceptin, it is important to realize that there may be new distinctions that are being made for economic reasons that are not based on risk.

For example, if one reads that medicare is paying for those with early stage bc to get Herceptin, that may refer only to the newly-diagnosed who have yet to be treated, or those who fall within the magical time limit of "6 months to 1 year after treatment". It may refer only to those whose cancer is 1 cm or larger (even though guidelines for early stage breast cancer patients to be considered for chemotherapy have included some patients whose cancers fall between 0.5 and 1.0 cm), whether or not someone falls within the appropriate magical window of time.

The cost of Herceptin is changing the definition of early stage breast cancer.