Suspending Herceptin

[Christine]

Barb,

I was dx'ed in 1999 at stage IV and have benn receiving Herceptin since August 1999. My pathology report showed that I was HER2 3+ "very highly positive" were the words they used. I had the IHC test as FISH was not yet available.

Last year at ASCO and San Antonio, I questioned several leading researchers about discontinuing or lowering my dose of Herceptin due to the fact that I was highly positive and had no recurrances other than CNS tumors. Although they all said that my theory was interesting, they also said that there are no studies that would support this. They all said CONTINUE HERCEPTIN.

On my own, I started receiving Herceptin every 4 weeks instead of every 3 weeks. This past January I was diagnosed with a <1 cm brain tumor. I was treated with Gamma Knife and am now back on the three week cycle. I do not know if the tumor was related to this.

I would suggest to stay on Herceptin.

Hugs
Christine