[RobinP]

Chrisy, I think your question alone demonstrates that you are perhaps a propellarhead yourself. I think you know the answer to your question too. I want to confirm what your concerns are via the posted article that Rhonda so kindly posted above. The p185 surface area was reduced following tx. with OA. Now, Herceptin also decreases the p185 surface area receptor site. When Herceptin and OA are given together, there is according to this article a synergistic reaction where both work to decrease the receptor site of p185, thus decreasing heterodimerzation with other deleterious her family members, such as her1 and her3. As the p185 receptor site is blocked with the help of herceptin and OA, phosphorlazation and the downward PI3K pathway is block to prevent cellular proliferation. As you can see H. and OA are working together to prevent cellular replication. However, in your trail, you are counting on the Herceptin and cytoxic agent to destroy the her2 molecule, not prevent it from replication as the study Rhonda posted. Therefore, you need all the Herceptin and cytoxic agent you can get into the p185 site in order to destroy THE HER2 MOLECULE. NO, YOU DO NOT WANT OA, IN THIS CASE, TO COMPETE WITH THE P185 RECEPTOR SITE. YOU WANT ALL THE CYTOXIC AGENT CARRIED BY HERCEPTIN INTO THAT HER2 SITE WITHOUT THE COMPETING OA, OA DOES NOT CARRY THE CYTOXIC AGENT. I WOULD DEFINATELY CUT OUT ALL OA IN YOUR DIET. IN FACT, I AM SURPRISED THAT THE TRAIL DOES NOT SPECIFY OA RESTRICTION. I WOULD WRITE A LETTER TO THE INVESTIGATORS ABOUT YOUR CONCERNS OVER OA.

RESULTS: Flow cytometric analyses demonstrated a dramatic (up to 46%) reduction of cell surface-associated p185(Her-2/neu) following treatment of the Her-2/neu-overexpressors BT-474 and SK-Br3 with OA. Indeed, this effect was comparable to that found following exposure to optimal concentrations of trastuzumab (up to 48% reduction with 20 microg/ml trastuzumab). Remarkably, the concurrent exposure to OA and suboptimal concentrations of trastuzumab (5 microg/ml) synergistically down-regulated Her-2/neu expression, as determined by flow cytometry (up to 70% reduction), immunoblotting, and immunofluorescence microscopy studies. The nature of the cytotoxic interaction between OA and trastuzumab revealed a strong synergism, as assessed by MTT-based cell viability and anchorage-independent soft-agar colony formation assays.