How long on Herceptine if you have secondaries?

[DebsP]

Hello

I wonder if anyone can help me - I have mets to my liver and am currently on herceptine (since Jan this year). I know eventually the tumors will get immune to the drug - but just wondered the longest that someone with secondaries has stayed immune with the help of herceptin. I know everyone is unique and it depends on the mets, person etc - but as I say I just wondered. My onc says he has a lady that has been on it for 18 months.

Thank you for your help

Debs

[Gina]

Welcome DebsP,

You will find many of us have been on Herceptin for YEARS with very good results. I have been using it, initially for liver mets, also, since early 1999. My life has returned to very normal...I work and raise my child (I'm a single mom) and still take the Herceptin infusion alone (no chemo since '98) on a regular basis.

Also, don't worry about all that silly stuff you hear about becoming resistant to the Herceptin...though it can happen, rarely, I suppose, I usually find it is the patient who wears out before the Herceptin does...but as long as you keep yourself strong and healthy and your body continues to over-express Her-2--lucky you..smile, odds are good that the Herceptin will continue to tag the her-2 over-expressing cells just as it is designed to do and keep the current mets cancer under control...of course, that does not rule out other kinds of say, hormonally driven cancers, so you just have to be careful and follow your case and listen to your heart, but take it from MANY of us...if it is just liver mets and if you are on Herceptin, you will most likely be here for the long haul... I think at least two women on this site are past 10 years on Herceptin....be sure to let your onc know that stat.

Hope this cheers you,
Gina

[Roz]

Thanks Gina!! I have been o/s and just returned to the site. Got miserable reading about "resistance", but your reassurances have been just what I needed. Thanks again

[StephN]

Roz and others -
It is easy to find stats that tell us how long our drugs may or may not work.
What we have to keep in mind is that these stats are NOT up-to-date! They are not based on what is happening NOW in the real world of patients who are not on their last legs as those in most of the trials were.
I am now fast approaching completing my fourth full year on Herceptin and it is working great for me. And I have a good life. Not perfect, but fine.

Depending on where you live and how long your med onc has been practicing, your med onc will have patients on Heceptin various lengths of time. Mine has women who are now six and more years. So I take comfort in that! Just keep stats like that in the forefront of your mind and you will be OK.