It has been very curious to me to read so much about how convinced breast cancer patients are that Herceptin promises some kind of miracles in the treatment of breast cancer. When I last posted about Herceptin and English nurse Barbara Clark's successful appeal to be able to take the drug, despite Lancet's insistence that the drug was not clinically proven to work on early onset breast cancer, I received an interesting comment. A physician who read the post elaborated further on professional skepticism about Herceptin.However, this article appeared soon afterward. The public in Belfast, Ireland, is now enthusiastic about Herceptin's more widespread availability for women with breast cancer. Women with early onset breast cancer are particularly determined to take the drug, particularly due to the press Ms. Clark's case received, and I have concerns, because the enthusiasm for the drug among this population seems misguided.
1. Some researchers believe the reason for better survival for patients who could undergo complete resection without any tumor left behind is that these tumors are biologically less aggressive and would do better regardless of the type of treatment they receive, and that the removal of lymph nodes at the time of surgery may additionally contribute to a better outcome. Patients in the United States get a whole lot more surgery along the way than in Europe. Maybe Europeans rely so much more on chemotherapy instead? Any kind of chemotherapy!
Posted at 6:23PM on Nov 14th 2005 by Gregory D. Pawelski