Herceptin stopped working
 

Stage 4 mets to liver, and bone did well on Herceptin for 7 months stopped working...Now on Herceptin and Tykerb 1500 daily, I had no reaction at all...oncologist says I need to stay on for 3 months even though not working......stopped working...Tumor markers rising from 40 to 86 in 6 weeks..PET scan showed everything more than doubled in size...Will TDMM1 work? ..How do I get in trials?

Re: Herceptin stopped working
 

Please see the thread T DM1 new sites. I think I answered your questions there. Good luck. Take care.

Re: Herceptin stopped working
 

Hi Emy,
Ok, what happened is that blocking the her2 pathway with herceptin and tykerb failed to keep the cancer in check.

This does not mean tdm1 will not work. Tdm1 uses the her2 receptor as a targeting mechanism to deliver a strong chemo directly to the cell. So, you are not relying on the Herceptin element of tdm1 to stop the stop the cancer, the chemo element does tha.

So not only can it work by definition the early trials of tdm1 were only people for whom herceptin and tykerb had failed. And tdm1 worked very well in that population, myself included.

As Elaine suggested, check out the other tdm1 thread.

Good luck,
Chris

Re: Herceptin stopped working
 

Emy,
Don't despair, Herceptin can get kick-started again when you change chemos, at least that has been my experience. When drugs are used in a combo, you really don't know which one "failed."

I was perplexed as to why your oncologist would keep you on a regimen that was not working. Were you given an explanation?

What is your location? I hope that you qualify for and are accepted into a trial of your choice.

Warmly,
Karen