Her2 positive cancer treatment after mastectomy?
Ok now I have been reading all websites and they all talk about Her2 treatment with or without chemo, with or without radiotherapy, but I'm still not sure if they cover my mum's case. Because they all talk of cases without mastectomy, or don't clarify. She has Her2 positive breast cancer and had a mastectomy and lymphectomy about a month ago (one breast). It was a big lump, but after they took it off they found it had shrunk, which means it responded well to chemo (don't know if this is relevant). After the mastectomy she did 2 more chemos and soon she will start radiotherapy for a month. Now I read that her2 is the thing that makes cancer aggressive, and I think they said that it is not affected by mastectomy, this means you can still get cancer again at the same or another place due to being her2 positive. Is this true? Should my mum get her2 treatment despite having a mastectomy and doing chemo and radiotherapy? (and taking other medication, don't know what it is) I don't know if she is being treated for this already, I will ask her. But I read that her2 treatment is still experimental so maybe she's not on it. Thanks! I just found this: Targeted therapy, also called biologic therapy, is a newer type of cancer treatment. This therapy uses special anticancer drugs that target certain changes in a cell that can lead to cancer. One such drug is trastuzumab (Herceptin). It may be used for women with HER2-positive breast cancer. Any information on whether Herceptin is available outside the US or UK? in Europe? It seems the online sources I found are a bit dated! Thanks :)
Cancer - 2 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
I know it is available here in Australia - several ladies in my breast cancer support group have used it.
2 :
All breast cancers are affected by mastectomy. It is not possible for any of them to recur in the same location after a mastectomy and most are capable of recurring in distant locations. Herceptin has been around at least 10 years now it is not experimental and I would imagine it is available anywhere.
Read more discussions :
Title : Her2 positive cancer treatment after mastectomy
Description : Her2 positive cancer treatment after mastectomy? Ok now I have been reading all websites and they all talk about Her2 treatment with or w...