Navelbine is classed as an ANTIMITOTIC. This drug acts to stop the cell division process at the step called Mitosis. I guess how fast it would work on your particular cancer would depend on how fast the cells are dividing. It is a very effective drug, and for the women I know who have it along with Herceptin good results are known pretty quickly. That was the case with me. My first scan for liver mets at 4 weeks after start of treatment showed dramatic results. (I also had Taxol, as another element of my arsenol, since my tumors grew so much over a very short period of time.) I am NED.
My friend with a recent new outbreak of bone mets was shown by an early scan to be doing well with a 50% shrinkage after 4 treatments with Navelbine. She also gets herceptin and Zometa. Her hair has thinned some and she gets tired, but is able to get some help with her counts with procrit and neulasta. She still works and has a 14-year-old son to deal with.
All the best to you both. I found that understanding exactly how each drug worked against the cancer cells allowed me to visualize them working and gave me a sense of power (whether real or not!) that boosted my morale.
Keep asking questions - knowledge is power!
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