Grace

Bob,

I did herceptin every three weeks and had no serious reactions. I much preferred the three-week routine, particularly as my veins were not very cooperative.

I have never read that the type of breast cancer your mother had (same as mine) is likely to occur in the other breast. There is such a type of breast cancer, but it is not, to my knowledge, IDC.

Also, the most recent research indicates that very few women benefit from Adriamycin. It is also very toxic to the heart. Recent research suggests that taxol is particularly beneficial to women who have HER2 positive cancers.


Also, a KI67 of 18% is not bad. I believe that number is still in the low range. Mine was 20% and that put me in the medium range. I'm not sure of my numbers here as it's been a while since I did my research. I know that some doctors in Italy, after reserching this marker, identified 19% as a cut-off number, with anything above having a higher liklihood of recurrence.

There has been much controversy on this board regarding tumor markers and if you do a search you can find many posts on the reliability (or not) of such markers. Mine, as I mention in first post, were elevated. I had many scans and we found no additional cancer. It's now fourteen months since I had the elevated markers and I'm doing well. Also, my markers last time checked were all within normal range. Many things can push up markers that are not concerned with cancer, including chemotherapy, infections, etc. I will say, although this is not advice as it concerns myself alone, that I am happy I did herceptin for a year. It gives me a feeling of confidence that without, I wouldn't have.

To other members. If any of the information I am giving Bob is incorrect, please feel free to correct.