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Herceptin (trastuzumab)

This drug is one of the most recently released anticancer drugs.  Herceptin is a protein, an antibody to a product of a gene that may be present in some patients with breast cancer.  Certain Genes play a role in cancers.  Oncogene HER-2 may be present in breast cancer cells and produce a protein that would be present at the surface of cancer cells.  When this protein is present on the cell surface, Herceptin can detect and bind to it and subsequently cause damage and destruction of such cancer cells.   Herceptin is a unique antibody and is similar to Rituximab that is used in treatment of lymphomas.

This drug is approved for treatment of metastatic breast cancers that do express the HER-2 gene induced molecule on their surface.  Clinical trials with this drug have shown objective responses in 20-25% of patients.   Treatment can result in durable responses and in some patients lasting beyond two years.

Side effects:

Side effects are mild and infrequent.  Most important side effects are:

• Anemia

• Fever, Chills may happen and can be helped with using Tylenol prior to the administration of the drug.

• Nausea, vomiting

• Fatigue

• Skin Rash

• Low blood pressure

• Headache

• Low White blood counts

• Fluid retention

• Soreness in the mouth

• Hair loss

• Diarrhea