AA,
The Aurthor who wrote the article and spoke with the leading doctors in the article understands that at this time herceptin is not given alone but with chemo. Hence the title. It is just a know fact today - and for anyone who does not know...will certainly discover this in the body of the article.
Nor do I believe that the article is misleading to anyone.
As I have shared with you since this seems to be a position that you have a strong interest in, why not do some research to discover what trails and research is in the works.
My position on this board is to share articles which offer positive news for women who feel doomed after being dx. with her2 bc. As a woman who did experience a dx.
of a small aggressive tumor my presence on the board is to share with others so they do not feel isolated, alone, troubled and feel they have to live in fear of the disease.
While your raise questions regarding the misleading representaton of the article - the article itself informs the reader that the issue of herceptin treatment with outchemo is currently under great debate under the medical profession at this time.
I will not have an open honest debate about medical information that is currently under investagion. see below. we do not have the answers. But certainly need to have them, we all want them. Even the doctors in the article ponder this question.
Dr. Gonzalez-Angulo said that one open question is whether these patients will benefit from trastuzumab alone or whether they need trastuzumab plus chemotherapy.
Currently we just do not have the data - so how can one debate it...we need research and trials. But in the meantime great strides have been made and I believe that should be appreciated.
I believe the findings are showings clearly that small aggressive tumors require treatment, which is an improvement in treatment ...just back 5 yrs. these women would have been turned away. Hopefully we will see additonal improvement as science moves forward.
Author Information
SABCS Abstracts 701 and 702
Adjuvant systemic therapy with the anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) monoclonal antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin) should strongly be considered in early-stage breast-cancer patients with very small and low-grade HER2-positive tumors, researchers reported at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
A US team came to that conclusion after finding that HER2 positivity is a powerful negative prognostic factor for patients with node-negative disease and tumors that are 1 cm or smaller. In addition, UK researchers found that HER2 positivity is associated with an increased risk of death due to breast cancer in patients with node-negative, histological Grade 1 or Grade 2 disease.
Together, the studies show that patients who are traditionally defined as low risk, but who are HER2-positive, have a poor prognosis. This is important because it tells us that HER2 status has a prognostic role even in low-risk tumors, said Angelo Di Leo, MD, PhD, Head of the Sandro Pitigliani Medical Oncology Unit and Chair of the Department of Oncology at the Hospital of Prato, Tuscany Cancer Institute, in Italy. Dr. Di Leo moderated the well-received, early-morning oral poster discussion of both studies.
Physicians need to consider offering these women Herceptin-based therapy in the adjuvant setting, said the senior investigator of the US team, Ana M. Gonzalez-Angulo, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor of Medicine
Current Guidelines
Current treatment guidelines do not recommend that trastuzumab be given to women with HER2-positive tumors smaller than 0.5 cm and suggest only that clinicians discuss trastuzumab treatment with women whose tumors are 0.5 to 1 cm in size. The reason, Dr. Gonzalez-Angulo explained, is because these women were largely excluded from the definitive trials confirming the benefit of the drug.
Five randomized, Phase III clinical trials reported significant improvement in disease-free and overall survival with trastuzumab administered in conjunction with adjuvant chemotherapy for early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer. However these studies included principally node-positive cases, and four trials excluded patients with tumors 1 cm or smaller that were node-negative
I will repeat I don't believe that any women who visits this thread will believe she has been fooled. The article speaks openly - If you disagree with the article and its title that is your choice and I suggested maybe you could help the site by doing some fact finding research to see why herceptin trials alone are not in the works. I am sure we all want to know.
I still stand that newly dx. women will find the reading
informative, enlightening and even uplifting.
Jean