Like many others, my onc sees no value in it. I'm on continuous chemo (currently Xeloda) plus Herceptin and Zometa. He says, and I must agree, what is the real value of this test at this point. I'm already on Herceptin and to date there's no substitution, say if the test were high.
Lisa -
When we met with the team that has created and tested this test last Dec. in San Antonio, there were a few answers. But the concensus was that the best use of this test was to monitor stage IV patients who are beginning a new treatment to see if the number goes up or down at two weeks into that cycle, and continue the blood test to monitor success or failure of that or a new treatment. Dr. Julie Gralow mentioned starting a trial using the blood test in just this way.
The other recommended use of the test was as a way to monitor stage IV patients who are NED or close to NED. A rise in HER2 cells can indicate increasing tumor activity well in advance of the other tumor markers or detection of tumors by various scan methods.
In your case, it would be a good idea to see what Dr. Carney thinks about using this test. I would still think it could be useful as a way to monitor success of your treatment.
Value of test
Hybrid Mode
