How does Perjeta work?

['lizbeth]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1jCDMNX4Zw

[conomyself]

Thanks for posting! I love the part at the end with the cancer disintegrating.

This is a great visual image -- I'm going to think of it every day!!

Love,

Rachael

[linn65]

Yes, great visual! And I am a visual learner. ;)

[Dakini52]

It is my understanding that Herceptin and Perjeta are both targeted therapies for HER2+ breast cancer. They both attack the HER2 cells, however that attack them in different ways that are believed to make the chance of recurrence substantially less. This is the definition I got from my onc and I have a lot of faith in what he has to say. Neither of these drugs have very harsh side effects and adding Perjeta does not appear to increase the risk of any cardiac issues. So compared to a lot of the therapies out there this one appears pretty mild.

[Dakini52]

Thanks for posting this video. It does a great job of explaining the synergy between Herceptin and Perjeta. I kind of understood it and this really makes it clearer.

[donocco]

Perjeta works by preventing the dimerization (linking) of the Her 2 protein with Her3 and Her 4 proteins. When the Her 2 protein links with the other growth factors, certain signal mechanisms like Map Kinase and PI-3K start a chain of events (A-B-C-D-E-F etc ) that ultimately reach the cell nucleus and initiate cell growth. This A-B-C-etc- to cell growth is known as signal transduction. Perjeta by preventing the dimerization process decreases this. Hope this helps.

Paul