Just wondering... about rads

Has anyone seen any information analyzing whether rads is:

equally effective for HER2+ and HER2-

more effective for HER2+ than HER2-

less effective for HER+ than HER2-

or more dangerous for HER2+ than HER2-?

Hi AA,
There is much evidence that rads can help activate the effects of Lapatinib (GW572016) which will be of great use to use once it is on the market. The link:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...2&dopt=Abstract

The only other study I have read in relation to this is that women on high-dose chemo + rads AND HER2 + are more likely to re-occur than HER2-. This is probably due to the HER over-expression, not interactions with previous high-dose chemo or rads.

Al

Hi there, I am HER+3 strongly positive and since 1998 I have had a truck load of Rads, each time the radiation would shift an enlarged lymph gland another would turn up in the next field, so between radiaiton and chemo and herceptin I have been able to keep it under control but there is something to be said about it coming back.

Love & Hugs Lyn

Hey AA,

Sorry for the late response...

Just wanted to add that there has been some preliminary evidence (I can find the abstract if you want) that herceptin acts as a radiosensitizer--i.e. it makes radiation therapy more effective...

Best,
Jeff

Thanks, all, for your responses to this one. If herceptin increases the efficacy of rads, that is another reason why it should be offered as adjuvant therapy instead of waiting, since so many of us at stage 1 have lumpectomy followed by rads, which then can't be repeated if we end up needing herceptin for recurrence. In that case it becomes sort of like wasting some of the ammunition...

A.A.

Hmmmm.... but I still wonder, do women who are HER2+ tend to recur more often and with more aggressive because rads increases the activity of HER2? How does rads affect the activity of HER2 itself?

Hey A.Angel,
I only know what my rad onc. told me. She said that radiation therapy would only help maybe 10% if that. I took the rads to do everything I could to stop it now and so far I am good to go. I haven't read any studies but will be looking up the link posted above. Take Care, k