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The article I just posted is just one study, but I have to continue to ask for more consideration for those who have completed treatment.
As someone with early stage bc I have found it hard to "know" how much risk is involved when choosing how to deal with bc.
I think women who are HER2 should be very, very persistent about understanding what choices they could have, and especially now those with early stage bc.
As someone who completed treatment with Adriamycin in 2002 (without any taxane), the only option I have heard so far that is being offered to women like me is to start Herceptin alone, which MAY provide somewhere around 13% greater protection.
For those with early stage bc who are just now looking at treatment, the Herceptin results indicate that by having Herceptin at the same time as Adriamycin (with taxane), the protection is far better than 13%.
The article I posted indicates that most of us early bc have micromets despite having had chemo. I think it is important for those of us who have completed chemo in the past, and who it seems are only going to be eligible for herceptin alone, push for a complete answer as to whether having more Adriamycin + taxane actually might work to help us avoid or further limit recurrence.
Yes, it might mean losing our hair again, and being sick again.
Yes, there is a lifetime limit on the total amount of Adriamycin we can each have.
Yes, both Adriamycin and Herceptin affect the heart muscle and that has to be considered.
But what I think remains to be determined is whether those of us who have hearts that can be proven to be adequate by way of MUGA scan or echo, and who believe the option should be OURS to consider, could go through perhaps something like dose-dense Adriamycin + taxane + Herceptin rather than just settling for adding Herceptin now -- and get greater benefit similar to that received by those who will be going through treatment now for the first time. Perhaps even having just 2 treatments (to limit the amount of Adriamcin) could make that kind of a difference for us. Who knows?
The population that demonstrated the recent success with Herceptin was a different population, one that had never had chemotherapy at all. So I think we need to have a clinical trial for early bc survivors who have had chemotherapy that was not given concurrent with herceptin and may not have included a taxane -- limited to those whose hearts are capable of withstanding it.
I was told when I chose to do chemotherapy that it does not extend survival, it only puts off recurrence or limits the number of recurrences one would have.
I think a clinical trial needs to be offered in behalf of those of us who went through the torture of chemotherapy that is already proven not to extend survival.
AlaskaAngel
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