Re: Herceptin as monotherapy - no chemo
More about serum HER2: the test has a CPT code and is reimbursed in our community. The test is listed in most hospital lab directories. There are no serum test guidelines--orginally, when Herceptin was used only in progressive disease, the serum recommendation followed. But now Herceptin is often used much earlier. Furthermore, it only costs $100-160. $210 direct-to-patient at hertestonline. This advice may come a little late for Laurie, since when Herceptin is working, the serum HER2 falls very quickly. Nevertheless, even now it would establish a baseline that could be revisited at a later date. You should retrieve and read a paper by RB Peterson (Clin Chem Lab Medicine, February, 2013). Seems like any patient or doctor (most are unaware of this journal) reading this article would chose to monitor.
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