High-risk breast cancer patients with HER2-positive tumors benefit from receiving the targeted therapy herceptin while under going chemotherapy, new research shows. The reason why Herceptin is so valuable to patients who have locally advanced breast cancer is they have a very bad prognosis. The cancer are usually bigger. They may have spread in the lymph nodes in the armpits and they're usually not small enough to be cut out to preserve the breast.
When a patient with locally advanced breast cancer, the doctor treats them first with chemotherapy, to shrink the tumor, along with trastuzumab (Herceptin). Once chemo is completed - after about 6 months, it is easier to operate and remove the tumor. Then the patient is continued on Herceptin for a year, followed by radiation.
Previous research has shown that Herceptin with chemotherapy helped women with both early and metastatic breast cancer live longer. 71% of women who received Herceptin were alive without recurrence at the end of 3 years.
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