How Herceptin Is Given

Herceptin can only be given intravenously, which means it is dripped into your body through a needle inserted into a vein. The first dose of Herceptin you get takes about 90 minutes. After that, it only takes about 30 minutes to get the other doses of Herceptin, which are usually given weekly in a doctor's office. Studies are looking at whether Herceptin can be given every three weeks instead of every week.

Unlike standard chemotherapy, which you take for a limited time, Herceptin is taken indefinitely in order to keep metastatic breast cancer under control. Herceptin has not been used long enough to know yet if you can stop taking it after you appear to be free of breast cancer for a certain period of time. So if you have metastatic disease and start taking Herceptin, you continue to take it, unless:

1. Your doctor believes it is no longer effective for your situation, or
2. Your doctor recommends that you stop the medication because of significant side effects.

If you have earlier stage disease and take Herceptin alone or as part of a regimen containing Adriamycin (chemical name: doxorubicin), Cytoxan (chemical name: cyclophosphamide), and Taxol (chemical name: paclitaxel), you receive it for a specific amount of time and then stop taking it.