Chelee,
Reading this jogged my memory of something I read in another paper on Her2, and I found it (of course!) while looking for something else -
Pilot Study of the Mechanism of Action of Preoperative Trastuzumab in Patients with Primary Operable Breast Tumors Overexpressing HER2
http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.or...ull/10/17/5650
The stated purpose of the study was "To elucidate the mechanism by which trastuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against HER2 with proven survival benefit in women with Her2+ metastatic breast cancer, mediates its antitumor activity."
The study involved 11 Her2+ bc patients treated with neoadjuvant Herceptin. In this small sample, there was one patient who achieved a complete pathological remission. The author had this to say about it:
"Interestingly, it may be worth to note that, shortly before diagnosis of breast carcinoma, the patient who underwent a complete pathological remission experienced a herpes virus infection that might have increased NK activity, as reported recently" (the author here cites Lundberg P, Welander P, Han X., Cantin E. Herpes simplex virus type 1 DNA is immunostimulatory in vitro and in vivo J. Virol. 2003; 77:11158-69.)
I now wonder, reading this blurb in conjunction with the article you posted, if the virus was still active in the patient who was infused with Herceptin, and the virus managed to help the Herceptin penetrate the tumor?
Fun to speculate.
Hopeful
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