Is it working?

[rinaina]

Perhaps this has been addressed before but I can't find it....How do we know if the Herceptin is working or not?

[tousled1]

I have the serum HER2 test done every 3 months and anything 15 or below is considered normal. My first one was 10.1 and my last one was 8.5 so I know the Herceptin is working. It's more reliable than the tumor marker tests.

[rinaina]

Thanks Tousled1, is this the only way to know?

[Jean]

Rinaina,

Good question here - just had contact with Becky on this very issue.
This test was designed for women with mets. Becky saw Dr. Carney and Bayer when she was at ASCO. This test is only approved for metastatic patients. She shared with me that Bayer is not sure it would work on early stagers due to the fact that there wouldn't or shouldn't be enough of the extra cellular domain shed. Unless you were getting to a point of a large met outbreak.

Just this week I mentioned it to my dr. who is not using it either and really does not know much about it (which bothered me ) on my next visit I plan on bringing in material about the test for him and hopefully he will begin to address using this test for his patients that are metastatic.

I truly understand how you feel in regards to knowing that the herceptin
is working. My dr. also is not one who follows markers as he feels they
present more problems. I have been having breast MRI's every other 6 months alternating with digital mamograms. Also had CT/PET scans in
May prior to starting chemo/herceptin. Maybe you may want to have
scans once a year (once again most dr. do not recommend this) due to
the false positives. It becomes an individual decision for your
own piece of mind.

Hope this helps you.
Best Wishes,
Jean