how soon Adriamycin after Herceptin

[LynnC]

How soon has someone recieved Adriamycin after Herceptin? I'm now on 12 weeks Herceptin and Taxol then will start Adriamycin and Cytoxan for 8 weeks, every other week. I know Adriamycin and Herceptin shouldn't be given together.

[kimber]

AC is normally given before Taxol. Herceptin's effectiveness is boosted when given in conjunction with Taxol. I have not heard of anyone getting Taxol first. Anyone else???? - kim

[bobbiw]

Lynn
I too had AC first and then Taxol along with Herceptin and am now doing Herceptin only for a year.
Bobbi

[Christine MH-UK]

I have heard of anthracyclines being given after the herceptin + taxane combos in trials, with good results and minimal cardiotoxicity, although the trials I can think of were fairly small. The problem with putting adriamycin first is that herceptin can aggravate problems set in motion by adriamycin, so the idea is that if you start with the herceptin-based chemo, the there isn't any prior damage for the herceptin to worsen the situation and there wouldn't be a gap before the adriamycin. Are you getting a herceptin tail or none? I would imagine not.

If your oncologist is a breast cancer specialist and the type who really knows what is going on, it may be that he or she knows something that we don't know about some trial that is underway, although your treatment is rather unusual. The big trials using adriamycin all put it first, but, as I mentioned, this may have not been the best way of doing it in terms of heart problems.

[suzan w]

I did A/C first...no taxol and am now 8 months into a year of herceptin-every 3 weeks

[Sherryg683]

I was given Taxotere and Herceptin first. I asked why I wasn't given Adrimiacyn and it was because of the heart problems when used together. My Oncologist said that Adrimiacyn was always a possibility later down the line but really didn't want to use it on me...he said it was an older drug that was being weined out...sherryg683