Give me hope...Her2+++

mommy13, here's my story re Perjeta.  I was diagnosed in November and my BS sent me to MO pre-surgery (I was already a good candidate for lumpectomy) because of the approval of Perjeta and a new protocol in the breast center that all early stage Her2+ patients should consult with MO pre-surgery in case they are candidates for Perjeta.  In the US anyway, Perjeta is only approved for neoadjuvant (pre-surgery) use for early stage cancers.  At my consult, MO then recommended TCHP.  I went on to get more testing done in prep for chemo.  When I went back to MO for final pre-chemo visit, she had changed her recommendation from TCHP to TCH alone.  She had just (literally day before) returned from the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, and based on findings there, no longer recommended Perjeta for me.  She said the results from TCH alone (no Perjeta) were so good, she didn't think adding Perjeta would make a measurable difference in my case.  So, in the end, I went forward with neoadjuvant chemo (even though it was technically not necessary, could have had the lumpectomy immediately) with TCH alone.  My MO is very highly respected doctor here in the Washington DC area.

I tell you this story mainly so that you hear the very recent, fantastic clinical results for Her2+ cancer is showing with TCH (actually, my MO told me she believes that FEC results are very similar, and just a different protocol more common in Canada and Europe).  The key to it all is the "H." 

Hi Mommy13, I too had Her2 bc along with one of my sisters. 3 of us had bc at the same time. Initially they told me that because the cancer was so small that I would just do the lumpectomy and radiation. They called a multidisciplinary meeting with the doctors and decided that they recommend Herceptin. It blew me away because I had conditioned myself into doing just the radiation. I finished Taxotere and Cytoxan December 2011 and Herceptin September 2012. Headed to the oncologist this morning praying everything is all good.