Guess what--now they find herceptin does cross the blood-brain barrier
 

when given with radiation therapy or in those with meningeal carcinomatosis:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q..._uids=17159499

I have trouble understanding all that..does it mean that if you were doing radiation and taking herceptin at the same time, it crossed the bbb. Or did you have to be doing brain radiation or a certain type of radiation besides just having breast radiated...sherryg683

I found this confusing too...does this mean it is a bad thing that herceptin crosses the bbb because it can actually cause a metastasis to the brain? Please clear this up in layman's terms.

Dr. Stemmeler has in the past infused Herceptin into spinal fluid with favorable results treating tumors within the spinal cord. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q..._uids=16596213

Meningeal carcinomatosis is a relatively uncommon cancer on the outer covering of the brain.

Herceptin has always been known to cross the blood brain barrier but not in enough concentrations to be effective. The radiation mentioned in this article is WBR and not Gamma Knife.

The question is if the amount of Herceptin entering the brain after radiation ,although increased, would be effective.

Regards
Joe

Tks. Joe..sherryg683

Regardless,

It didn't help my cousin's wife, she had mets to brain and developed the carcinomatous meningitis, she had wbr and was on herceptin along with had an ommaya reservoir in for infusion of chemo directly into the brain. She passed away this past yr.


A.