High Cholesterol and Herceptin - need advice
 

Dear All - I have been on Herceptin for a year now for treatment of a primary, and have decided to go on for a second year. Foolishly I thought I would go for a "normal" check of Blood pressure and cholesterol to my Family Doctor. I was stunned to find my Cholesterol had climbed from 4.8 to 6.7 in a year. I think this is about 265 on American scales ie high!! I have never had a problem with my cholesterol before, dont smoke, have a low BP, eat healthily, am not overweight and execise 6 days a week! I guess it could all be due to Menapause but what I am really concerned about is that this would be a reason to stop Herceptin. My LVO has drifted down to 55% from 68% but has done so in the past and done back up with missing a three weekly dose. How many times am I allowed to do this? Should I ask for a gate scan to confirm a rather operator dependant test? Many thanks for your imput. Rowena

Dear Rowena,
I have not heard of Herceptin causing high cholesterol, but have heard of this being an issue with menopause. Cholesterol tests are very easily influenced by diet - it might be, literally, something you ate the day before. As you have never had problems in this area before, I'd suggest getting this retested - it could be a fluke. I've been getting Herceptin for nearly 2 years and my onc has never checked my cholesterol - so that makes me think it's not an issue for Herceptin - although since H is metabolized by the liver it might not be a bad idea to ask your doctor.
Re the heart test - are you talking about LVEF? I don't know if there is a "limit" to the number of times you would need to take a break to let the ratio recover - but of course you want to be careful in this area.
Hope this helps.
Chris

Rowena


Are you also on an aromatase inhibitor (Femara or Arimidex cite high cholesterol as a side effect). If you are on one of these, that can be the problem. Aromosin, a different AI, does not have this side effect. I have not heard of this as a Herceptin side effect. If you are not taking an AI, then it can just be one of those things and you may need some Lipitor or another statin to bring it down.

Kind regards

Becky

Thanks Guys. Yes I do mean LVEF and no not on any other drugs. But my glomerular filtration rate is also showing changes that could "suggest" chronic renal disease?! Never had that problem before either!!regards Rowena

My family doc ran a whole bunch of labs, and I do have high cholesterol. Does it run in your family at all? That can be as much of a culprit as what you eat is. If they put you on a med, watch the side effects. I take advicor and one of its side effects is hot flushes. So now when I have a hot flash from chemopause, I turn beet red. Now everybody around me knows when I'm having a hot flash.

I have high cholesterol and have for many years. My last test done by my primary care physian showed that my cholesterol is now in the normal range -- along with everything else. I was taking Lipitor for the cholesterol but it didn't seem to help. I was then put on Tricor which seems to have helped immensely. I am taking Herceptin weekly and my oncologist never mentioned anything about cholesterol being a problem with Herceptin