What is Herceptin?
• A: Herceptin (trastuzumab) is a treatment for women with breast cancer whose tumors have too much HER2 protein. This type of cancer is known as “HER2-positive”, “HER2+”, or “HER2 overexpressing”. HER2+ tumors tend to grow and spread more quickly than tumors that are not HER2+. This is why it is so important to find out your cancer’s HER2 status. Clinical experience with Herceptin for the adjuvant treatment of HER2+ breast cancer began in 2000. In 2006, Herceptin was approved for the adjuvant treatment of HER2+ breast cancer. Herceptin is approved for the adjuvant treatment of HER2-overexpressing, node-positive or node-negative (ER/PR-negative or with one high-risk feature) breast cancer. Herceptin can be used several different ways: • As part of a treatment regimen including doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and either paclitaxel or docetaxel • With docetaxel and carboplatin • As a single agent following multi-modality anthracycline-based therapy Herceptin in combination with paclitaxel
Herceptin is a drug that until recently was only used to treat metastatic breast cancer (cancer that has spread from the breast to other parts of the body). It is an antibody that targets cancer cells that “over-express” (make too much of) a protein called HER2. Herceptin is only effective for women whose breast cancer is HER2-positive. Because it is a targeted treatment that only attacks cancer cells, the side effects are milder than those of chemotherapy, which attacks all fast-growing cells. Recently, doctors have begun to use Herceptin to treat women who have been newly diagnosed with HER2-positive cancer if their cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. Herceptin is recommended for these women as an adjuvant (post-surgery) treatment in combination with chemotherapy.
Related Questions
- Now with the availability of Herceptin, we begin to see patients suffering from brain metastasis. Is there any correction between this treatment and brain metastasis?
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