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StephN
It would be great if you could also be tested for phospho-her2 which is the activated form of her2 which supposedly herceptin is most active against, also c-myc because those who are both her2 and cmyc + do especially well with herceptin based on a paper Dr. Slamon presented at the 2005 San Antonio meeting.
There is so much to be learned.
They learned a lot about AIDS by looking at the few people who were infected with HIV who never got AIDS and those who lived in relative symbiosis with it for long periods of time.
Sometimes it is easier to learn about complicated processes by looking at a small subsegment of the population who did well and try to discover why.
I went to a fund-raiser for a new institute of Immunity, Transplantation, and Infection (I was just accompanying the invitee) where they described trying to look with all the wonderful new technology available at how the immune system actually behaves in health and disease. The equipment is there --what they need is samples and money and people to agree to give up privacy privileges written into the new HIPAA laws which do not allow researchers to have access to the medical records of those whose tumors they are looking at to see how they are doing!!!. I described how cooperative I felt people on this board would be if anyone were trying to discover the true behavior of how her2 eludes the immune system, how it is modified by radiation therapy, herceptin etc.
They would love to look at these things but...
Perhaps Cynthia could lobby in Washington. But looking at the Bush budget
and its effect on clinical trials...
We can only hope.
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