Can I receive TAC with Herceptin® (trastuzumab)?
The use of trastuzumab cut the risk of breast cancer returning after initial treatment by half in four large randomized trials. These trials compared chemotherapy with trastuzumab versus chemotherapy alone. Some of these studies used trastuzumab at the same time as chemotherapy, whereas one very large trial conducted outside of the United States used trastuzumab only after completing all chemotherapy. Since the TAC (Taxotere®, Adriamycin®, and cyclophosphamide) regimen contains Adriamycin (doxorubicin), which substantially increases the risk of heart damage when given at the same time with trastuzumab, the only way to deliver trastuzumab with TAC would be to finish TAC first and then start trastuzumab. Looking at the results of the trial outside the United States (HERA trial), one could easily justify doing that. However, different ways of administering trastuzumab were employed in U.S. studies in which AC (Adriamycin and cyclophosphamide) treatment was delivered before initiating tras
