Herceptin

Herceptin (chemical name: trastuzumab) is a very effective treatment against HER2-positive breast cancer in women with stage II, III, and IV disease (medium to large cancers or cancers with lymph nodes involved or metastatic disease). Read an article about Herceptin after chemotherapy. It is given intravenously into the bloodstream once every one to three weeks.

Herceptin is called a targeted therapy because it targets breast cancers that make too much of the HER2/neu gene or HER2 protein. These cancers are called HER2-positive. Herceptin is also called an immune treatment because it is made of an immune system–like antibody that blocks the HER2 protein in cancer cells. Blocking the protein helps stop the growth of HER2-positive cancer cells. About one out of every four breast cancers is HER2-positive. HER2-positive breast cancers tend to be more aggressive than HER2-negative breast cancers.

Herceptin is only given to women with HER2-positive breast cancer. Herceptin is effective in women with metastatic and earlier stages of disease. It can:

• shrink down and get rid of cancer that has spread beyond the breast to other parts of the body
• help shrink down a medium- to large-sized cancer in the breast before surgery
• reduce the risk of cancer coming back after surgery in women with medium-sized cancer (two centimeters or larger) or if the lymph nodes are involved (no matter what size the cancer is)

Herceptin is currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for:

• women with metastatic HER2-positive disease
• women with earlier stages of HER2-positive disease as adjuvant treatment (treatment after initial treatment, such as surgery) either alone or as part of a regimen with chemotherapy

In this section you'll learn more about how Herceptin works, who can benefit from it, how you take it, and what the side effects are.