I hope CHRISTINE sees this and comments....

[lauren]

Hey guys...

I spoke to Christine on the phone and had a really enlightening convo about herceptin and other treatments, and she told me, if i remember correctly, that herceptin does not prevent brain mets because it is a large molecule drug and thus cannot penetrate the blood brain barrier. That said, herceptin in combination with radiation to the brain CAN be helpful in combatting brain mets that already have occurred.

The point I am making is that it seems that herceptin IS helping you, jojo, in that you don't have mets detectable elsewhere in your body....keep up the good fight....trust your docs...but also be on the lookout for new info...you're doing the right things!!!! also, see my question re. aromatase inhibitors...

[JoJo]

Many thanks, lauren, for your encouraging words. :-) I needed to hear that!

You made a good point about the works of Herceptin. I would have never come up with the concept of Herceptin being possibly effective to the rest of the body, except just less effective to the brain.

Perhaps, that's why I have brain mets...

Still haven't heard from gamma knife yet. Hey, and did you know that there are only 12 gamma knife centers in the US? Just in my luck, my clinic happens to have their own GK center. I wonder how the others can have their GK, if not for one of those GK centers?? At a private practice??

Thanks again. Hugs

[Christine]

Don't forget there is Cyber-knife and Linear Accelerater, but haven't heard the results of the LAccelerator. Ifind that Gamma-knife and Cyber-knife to be most used currently in the USA AND EUROPE. Cyber-knife requires no helmet, but my Rad Onc prefers using what he has used for 12 years, Gamma-knife.