PERJETA: 6 cycles or 18 cycles

Hi LuvAll,

We just wanted to drop in and post to "bump" your post back into Active Topics in the hopes of getting you some answers from someone who has some experience with this.

We hope this helps!

--The Mods

LuvAll,

My stats are similar except I'm ER- and PR-. At my biopsy my tumor was only 1.5 cm at it's largest dimension but within two weeks, an MRI showed it to be 7 cm at its largest, with two other horrifyingly larger dimensions than at biopsy, so I suddenly qualified for Perjeta and Radiation but no imaging ever showed nodal involvement--not that I trusted imaging all that much, honestly. I had my six TCHP cycles and even before my surgery I started on cycles 7 through 17 (some women on this forum receive 17 and others 18--another mystery) and my MO started me on Herceptin only. At my post-surgical appointment after I'd learned I'd achieved a complete response, I asked my MO why he didn't continue the Perjeta even though he did not know that the cancer had responded completely at that time. He told me that based on the Tryphaena Trial the Perjeta would not be included in the adjuvant therapy portion--only Herceptin (Tryphaena Trial).

I've never asked and would have today had I read your question before seeing my MO before my 17th and final Herceptin, but I have wondered whether the fact that imaging never showed nodal involvement dictated Herceptin-only after surgery? Did you have cancer in any of your lymph nodes? Either way, I'd be interested to hear what your doctor says about why you only had Herceptin after surgery.