Herceptin Plus a Taxane:To SusanV, Bev, and Karenann

karenann · 09-26-2006, 11:42 AM

Thanks everyone for the information. I didn't realize that Taxol was the drug being talked about. After reading Becky's post, I am glad Taxol was part of my treatment

Karen

Hopeful · 09-26-2006, 12:23 PM

Doing a little research on taxanes, I found this article from 2 years ago: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/taxanes.htm. Picking up Lani's comments about Herceptin enhancing the body's own immune system from the "propellerhead" thread, maybe this is why the combination is so powerful? Food for thought.

Hopeful

saleboat · 09-26-2006, 12:36 PM

Hi Susan,

I bet if you go to a major cancer center and get an opinion on your treatment plan, your Onc would be much more likely to see the point of adding Taxol-- at Sloan, I'm 90% certain that you'd get Taxol with your treatment given your stage and node status. Seems like it is much easier to change an Onc's mind when another Onc gets involved.

Good luck,
Jen

Mary Jo · 09-26-2006, 01:16 PM

Hello,

I also received 4 dose dense A/C and 4 dose dense taxol along with herceptin. My oncologist also said that in my situation the taxol along with herceptin was proven to be beneficial. I'm coming up on my LAST herceptin treatment (Oct. 11) and am finding that I am becoming a bit scared of recurrence.

God Bless all -

Mary Jo

AlaskaAngel · 09-26-2006, 02:24 PM

My onc is a general medical onc and doesn't specialize in breast cancer, so maybe it is harder for him to keep up with it all. But also, I got that opinion from him about 9 months ago at my most recent visit with him, prior to the date on those studies.

That said... it still appears that he consistently doesn't seem to see very far ahead...

Thanks again, Becky, for catching this thread and clearing up the confusion.

AlaskaAngel

Bev · 09-26-2006, 08:48 PM

I was confused, I thought Herceptin denied. I have read H & T synergistic. I have also read taxol makes cells more sensitive to be destroyed by rads. For triple positives, I think AC may be eventually abandoned. Except for eyelashes, brows and the top of your head and pain in extremeties, Taxanes are easier than AC. I'm a layman, I just know my feeling was to be as aggressive as posiible because I don't want to be in this place again, ever. BB

Becky · 09-27-2006, 06:31 AM

Adriamycin will never be abandoned for about half of Her2+ women (regardless of hormone status) because about half of Her2+ women are also TopIIA positive (although it is not routinely tested right now, it will be) and adriamycin really knocks down and kills TopIIA positive bc. Therefore, about half the women who are Her2+ will get AC followed by TH and the others will get TCH (Taxol or taxotere with carboplatin and herceptin).

This is the wave of the future - better tumor marker testing so you only get the drugs that will work the best on your tumor and avoid others that don't do anything to the cancer.

Kind regards

Becky