Treatment Question

[phil]

greg, I posted about the theresa trial info , in response to kk1's input, then saw your post.
Having " Blah ' days is completely understandable, in fact , having raging mad days, crying days ... and laughing days, is part of the deal too. I'm looking at abeautiful pic on my desk of us in Naples , Fla. 2 yrs ago, and we had a great time in Aruba 3 yrs ago, even w/ nasty tyk/xel s/e. I hope you have great pics of jamaica. Good times are only sweeter , after hard ones.
Herceptin is a game-changer. As many as 20% of her2 pts need only herc. I know many others who got herc , w TAC, ( like taxotere, carbo , herc ) , and maybe f/u herc. Yrs NED now. Many do not post on the web, they are off living thier life, maybe doing a walk ix ayr. I greatly appreciate those who are NED who stay on the web, give us encouragment, advice.
They are discovering more and more genetic sub-types of bc, and probably will find sub-types w/in her2 +. Some her2 , like Lorraine, and yuor wife, probably have other mutations than her2 overexression, that havent been discovered yet. Some respond to tykerb, some have few s/e from tyk/ xel or tyk/herc. my wife had strong s/e but still toughed it out for months.
Whats encouraging about t dm-1 for strong overexpression of her2, is , even if there are other mutations in Lorraines cancer , T DM-1 doesnt care , it uses herc to home in on the mutated cells , and the dm-1 blows them up. End of story . Thats a game-changer.
I didnt know all this in the first 2yrs or so, but i ahve learned a swe go along. have you seen Lorraine ? On youtube ? If you want to see a " before T dm-1 " pic , go to southshoreexpress.com, type in " Lorraine heidke-mccartin ". You will see her in 2010, holding our newest granddau, w . a baseball cap hiding her wisps of hair from adria. Then watch her in the Rally video. She went SKIING last winter for the first time in 5 yrs ! Only 5 months on tdm-1, 4 months after that pic. I think some of my feedback to you has been really more about not being at a top research hosp., like Johns Hopkins , and not w/ a " friend of your onc ".
battling aggressive cancer is about being aggressive, " surprising the cancer " w/ new combos , You have many weapons left, many ! But research oncs know most about which , and when , to deploy.
Your wife had liver mets , like my wife, and had pretty quick progression after some months , on herc. Like Lorraine. But w/ L herc still worked , w. navelbine, then gemzar , for probably over 2 yrs. Tyk/xel works better for some than my wife.
Pertuzumab may be better than herc., and will be out very soon , June ? , t dm-1 i believe by end of yr. I think that anyone in a trial who progresses then , can drop out and get approved drugs like herc/ t dm-1.
This is going to be a historic yr for her2 bc tx, w/ pert and t dm-1 coming out . Thats why i wa sthrowing out looking into theresa, becuase 2 /3rds get t dm-1 . The others could ride tyk/xel or some other " physicians choice " as long as it works, or until progr. Then drop trial, go to combos w/ pert , t dm-1 later in yr.
Tyk /xel works !! Its a good tx to go w/ for aggressive her2 , But I strongly recommend moving tx to a top bc research hospital . No time to feel bad for docs, esp. ones w/ ? about overall tx planning .