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I think some of the confusion with using Benadryl and Herceptin is that your immune system may be triggered to respond to the Herceptin as a non-self and mount an immune response against it. Which is a good thing. So, it makes sense to suppress the immune system with Benadryl until the antibodies can get to where they're going (i.e., find cancer cells). Once the antibodies reach the cancer cells, the body can mount an immune response to the Herceptin and hopefully increase its effectiveness as it flags the cell to be destroyed via ADCC.
The thing is the Herceptin is given in such large quantity that its going to get to where its going regardless if the body mounts an immediate immune response. It also hangs around so long (weeks) that the few hours the immune system is suppressed is insignifcant to whether or not it can work in concert with the Herceptin. So the Benadryl is probably a non-factor, but does reduce symptoms during the infusion and is actually part of the original protocol from Genentech.
Scott
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