Tamoxifin and Herceptin

[wtfsanjo]

there is a lot of data that says tamoxifen doesn't work nearly as well in Her2+ patients - some data says it doesn't work at all in Her2+ patients. however, the addition of herceptin interacts with the tamoxifen in Her2+ patients and makes the tamoxifen work better. i took tamoxifen during herceptin, and discontinued after the end of herceptin. at that point i strongly considering ovarian ablation (i was 28, premenopausal) and an aromatase inhibitor. if you are strongly hormone positive, i would definitely recommend an AI versus tamoxifen. oncologists are generally resistant to this idea of tamoxifen resistance in Her2+ patients - at this point the available data hasn't reached a critical point to change standard of care for Her2+ patients. most oncologists would agree, however, that tamoxifen doesn't work as well in Her2+ - if i had been more hormone positive that i was, my ovaries would be shut down already and i'd be on femara. no question.

katie