taking a break

Hi There,
Well my sister is finally taking her trip with hubby and three children. She is leaving on Monday for two weeks. I'm concerned about the time she'll be off chemo and herceptin. Her Navelbine is generally given every week (2 weeks on and one week off) and herceptin weekly with no breaks. Yesterday was her "off week" for the Navelbine so she only had herceptin. Basically this means that she will be without Navelbine for 4 weeks and without Herceptin for 3 weeks. I was under the impression that she would at least get a three-week dose of Herceptin, but she didn't. Should we be concerned?...my sister isn't. I don't think she should be without everything for a long period of time, considering how serious her condition remains. I don't want to worry her so I haven't said anything, but I'm wondering if I should suggest that she get more Herceptin before she leaves on Monday. What are your thoughts? Has anyone taken such a break in the middle of treatment?

[Lolly]

Celina,
Here's a link to an article which cites a study in which it was discovered that the half-life of Herceptin is longer than originally thought; I've included the quote from the article:



"The half life is now estimated to be approximately 25 days, rather than 5-6 days. Thus Herceptin may persist in the circulation for up to 18 weeks (range 15-22 weeks) after stopping Herceptin treatment," according to an EMEA statement..."


http://www.annieappleseedproject.org/wait22weekbe.html

The purpose of the article is to alert the public to the risk of taking anthracyclines too soon after discontinuing Herceptin, but I thought the info about Herceptin staying in the system for over 3 weeks would be helpful to you.

Love, Lolly

[Patty H]

Celina,
I was wondering the same thing. I am on two weeks on navelbine and two weeks with just herceptin. I have a vacation planned for the first two weeks of Feb. When I made my plans I missed calculated, not realizing there are 5 Fridays in Dec. I had planned on going at the end of my two weeks on herceptin so I would feel my best and be at a time where my blood counts are up. Then I would just delay my chemo for one week. Now it's going to fall in the middle of my two navelbines. Which would be a bad time for me to go. The other choice is to have three weeks of herceptin but then I would be delaying my navelbine by two weeks. I see my Dr. the first week of Jan. So I will discuss this with him. I know he usually likes me to go on vacations at a time when my counts are up. He also likes me to take vacations!! The last time I went he gave me antibodies to take while I was gone, to make sure I didn't get sick while out of state. He thinks vacations are important for stage 4 bc. Patty H

Celina,
I don't think there would be a problem due to Herceptin's ability to stay in the system. One thing is for sure, she'll feel great after a chemo holiday and that can't hurt either.
Al