2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

Have just started my 15th month on Herceptin. My Onc is awaiting report on a study comparing results of one year vs. two on the drug. Anyone know the name of this study or anything about it?

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

It is called the HERA study. It is just one part of the study. The updates are usually reported at the ASCO or San Antonio Breast cancer meetings (June, December) and usually by the head of the international study, Martine Piccart, of Belgium.

She has not given any estimate recently of when such results may become available as far as I know.

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

I read somewhere, but can't remember where, that they are expecting some results to be released in early 2011. My onc seems to think that there must not be much of a difference found between the 1 and 2 years, or something surely would have be "leaked" out by now. I'm about half-way done with my one-year. I'm very interested if they will know whether to extend my treatment, or if I'll miss the results by a month or two since I'll be done late 2010.

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

Dear Weety

If a second year of Herceptin is really beneficial over one year, you may be able to return to your cancer center and continue (even if you have had a couple of months break). There will be some type of "rule" for that. When the first Herceptin trials had results, many women (myself included) who were already finished with treatment were permitted to return to treatment and get their year of Herceptin.

Intial "rules" at that time started out as those who were 6 months from the last chemo then it changed to one year out then 2 yrs out (I was almost 4 months out so I rushed it get started but by the time I had my first dose, the "rule" changed to one year).

In your case, if there are "rules" they would probably be based on the time from the last Herceptin infusion.

I am also in the group who thinks that short term, there are probably not that much benefit from 2 yrs over 1 year. However, perhaps 2 years is better for long term results much like 5 yrs of Tamoxifen or an AI is better long term than 1,2 3, or 4 yrs of those drugs. I am just thinking out loud here.

The main point is getting the year of Herceptin.

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

The results of the two year arm have in the past been promised at particular conferences and then not materialised. It would be nice if this time something came out regarding the effectiveness.

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

That info really leads me to believe that there must not be much difference over the 1 year. One would have to believe that if there was a tremendous difference, they would have started to recommend a 2nd year to at least the higher risk women. But, I guess we all still get to wait. . .

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

When I ask my onc he said there is no way of knowing what the exact number of needed doses are, but he has me on a total of 64 12 with taxol and then 52 after surgery by itself.

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

My wife's Onc said that the usual course here is 9 doses of herceptin 450mg with a gap of 3 weeks between each dose that after the 6th or 9th a PET scan will be done and follow up decided

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

Do not assume that bcs there is no word on 1 year vs 2 years of Herceptin that 2 years is not better. Since there is no word yet it makes me believe that 2 years is better, but they are trying to weigh if the gain is worth the extreemely high cost of the treatment. After all, if it did not show any benefit, it would have been reported. In medicine, there is always a cost vs benefit analysis.

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

My wifes Onc also feels that there is no benefit comparable to the cost for continuing Hereceptin and he is going to switch over to Tykerb for a year

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

I have heard of two trials comparing herceptin for 6 months vs 12 months, one in Britain (Persephone; NCT00712140) and one in France (PHARE; NCT00381901). Has anyone seen any preliminary results from these trials?

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

in this study of herceptin for 2 years versus 1, does anyone know who it is aimed at? i've assumed everyone in at least stage 4 automatically had herceptin for as long as it was thought to work (years), so i am curious if it's geared toward early stage. i am about to have my last herceptin october 14th and then wanted my port out, but now this gives me food for thought. something to ask the oncologist about. thanks, valerie

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

Dear v-ness, I was reading your bio and you are the first person that I have seen who had an Oncotype done and was HER2+. I didn't have one done because I guess it was obvious that I needed chemo but I have always wondered what range it would fall into.
I also found my own tumor about a year after a 'clean' mammo. I had an itch and found a tumor. Cancer definitely sucks!
Congrats on completing your first line treatment. Are you post-menopausal? Could you use an AI instead of tamox?

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

hi das.

yes, i do appear to be a rare bird having the oncotype done while HER2+ but i did not think the test was simply to determine whether one should have chemo or not. that i was having chemo was a given and i wanted it. perhaps i am mistaken, but i believe that since it is done on a molecular level you also get the benefit of knowing how likely your own personal cancer is to recur. i thought that valuable. perhaps more HER2's should be oncotyped, and maybe cost is yet another one of those factors on why they don't do it. while i was shocked at the 56, i am also glad i have all my information.

you said your tumor itched and i believe mine did too! a friend of mine has a dog who licked her head for 2 months straight after chemo - first time it ever did that. well, damned if she didn't have brain mets. once they were zapped the dog has stopped licking her head. so much we don't know about cancer....

i was not post-menopausal when treatment started last october although i had a partial hysterectomy the january before. chemo plunged me into it. i just had my other ovary out in august because of my mom's ovarian cancer tumor death. too scary for comfort. so now i am post-menopausal BUT my oncologist dismayed me by saying i still have to stay on tamoxifen until april, the full year. since i am pretty much managing the bloody hot flashes with effexor, i am just going along with it. i also get cold flashes, which i never knew existed before. sucks to get old, as my husband used to say. :)

thanks on the congratulations, it means a lot. in a world without my husband or mom anymore i've found i reach out to a lot wider circle of people than i ever did before for moral support. good luck to you in your treatment, may it go as well as mine. valerie

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

Valerie

The 2 yrs of Herceptin versus 1 yr is part of the HERA trial which was an early bc trial done in Europe.

In that trial women were randomized AFTER adjuvant chemotherapy to one of three arms. These arms were no Herceptin, 1 yr of Herceptin or 2 yrs of Herceptin. Any chemo was acceptable but chemo and radiation had to be completed before starting the Herceptin.

The one year of Herceptin (versus no Herceptin) results were announced at ASCO May 2005 when the USA trials were announced - the spectacular results which resulted in women (like you) getting one year of Herceptin. This is started with chemotherapy because that's how the trials were done here in the USA (and ultimately, although Herceptin works very, very well when given after chemo, it does work better when started with chemo). The HERA one yr results were the same as the USA results even though HERA's Herceptin was given afterwards. The explanation for this is that there was no criteria on the kind of chemo a woman got. The only criteria for HERA was either positive nodes or a tumor larger than 1cm. Many European women did receive more inferior chemo (like CMF for example) so they benefited more than women getting FEC, AC and/or a taxane.

The 2 yrs of Herceptin arm is not over yet and the results of 1 yr vs 2 yrs is not analyzed for statistical differences yet (and remember, it is only valid for those getting Herceptin after chemo and/or rads). No one knows what 2 yrs of Herceptin would do if one got Herceptin with chemo and if there would be a difference vs 1 yr Herceptin starting with chemo.

My impression is that there will be little difference upfront but perhaps over time, there might be (such as taking Tamoxifen or an AI - they had to have done trials to say that 5 yrs is best).

It will be very interesting to see those 2 yr results and it will also be interesting to see the 6 months vs 12 months results.

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

thank you for the informative post, becky. v

Re: 2 years vs. 1 year on Herceptin
 

Anyone know how much longer we might have to wait for any info on this 2-yr trial? I think the trial is over 5 yrs out now (I believe it's in the 6th year?) so I'm just curious when we might hear about that 3rd arm. I would assume soon???