Ajuvant herceptin

[yuka]

Is there anyone who took herceptin before mastectomy or lumpectomy?
I am diagnosed in 2004 as stage 3b , my onc is 4cmx3cmx1.5cm.I have now AC and my doctor recommends me to take taxol with herceptin before surgery. What is the benefit of taking herceptin before surgery, do you think?
I appreciate any information about this. thanks.

[*_Julie_*]

You are getting the best treatment. Please go ahead and take Herceptin with Taxol. It might totally get rid of the tumor before surgery.

Julie

[Mary H.]

Yuka, results of two national trials regarding adjuvant herceptin were recently released at the ASCO meeting. The addition of herceptin to standard chemotherapy significantly reduces the risk of recurrence (up to 53%). You should be able to find plenty of information about adjuvant herceptin by poking around on this site.

What your doctor is recommended is considered "neoadjuvant" treatment--chemotherapy followed by surgery. Adjuvant treatment is chemotherapy after surgery. Dr. Buzdar at M.D. Anderson in Texas conducted a clinical trial using herceptin along with standard chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant setting. He halted the trials when it became clear that the addition of herceptin in neoadjuvant treatment was clearly superior. In the majority of patients, as I recall, tumors completely disappeared when herceptin was added. Here is a link to the trial information: http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/n...5256FD40070EAAB (http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/news/8525697700573E1885256FD40070EAAB)

I would strongly recommend you consider adding herceptin to your neoadjuvant regimen.

Best wishes, Mary

[*_Christine MH_*]

I would definitely go with this, if I were you. Some Italian scientists suspect, although it has not been proven, that surgery may accelerate the development of distant mets in HER2 BC, particularly in pre-menopausal women. If this is true, then it is important to knock out whatever cancer cells may have escaped before surgery.

The main risk of adding herceptin is that there is a small possibility of heart trouble (less than 5% in the study mentioned), but you should be monitored and the benefits would greatly outweigh the risks.

Best wishes,
Christine

[yuka]

Hi all , thank you very much. I really appreciate all your help.
yes, I am really worried about the adverse effect of herceptin but I think I should do the best thing that I can do now.
I could make my mind to take this treatment.
best wishes. yuka