What happens after Herceptin treatment?

After Herceptin treatment, your doctor will monitor you regularly for cancer progression, advise you not to become pregnant for at least 7 months (if you are of childbearing potential), and test your heart every 6 months for at least 2 years, because there is a higher risk of developing long-term heart damage in people who take Herceptin.

Seek emergency medical help if you’re taking Herceptin and you develop any symptoms of heart failure. They include:

• shortness of breath
• trouble breathing
• an irregular or rapid heartbeat
• increased cough
• swelling of the lower legs or feet.

During treatment with Herceptin, your doctor will test your heart every 3 months.

People who can become pregnant are advised to use contraception during their treatment period and for 7 months after treatment with Herceptin ends because Herceptin may cause low levels of amniotic fluid in the baby that can lead to underdeveloped lungs and neonatal death.

A long-term study that followed women with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer for 8-plus years, reported that adding Herceptin to chemotherapy significantly improved the overall and disease-free survival. There was a 37 percent improvement in survival and a 40 percent reduction in risk of cancer occurrence, compared to patients treated with chemotherapy alone. There was also no increase in the incidence of secondary cancers and only a minor increase in heart problems.

In terms of overall survival, in people given Herceptin plus chemotherapy for breast cancer treatment:

• 6.78% more patients are still disease-free than those just assigned chemotherapy
• The overall estimated median survival is 7.5% higher in the Herceptin with chemotherapy group.

When Herceptin plus chemotherapy was given for Metastatic breast cancer, there was:

• 2.7 months longer median time to disease progression compared to the chemotherapy group
• 2.5 months longer median duration of response compared to the chemotherapy group
• 4.8 months longer median survival compared to the chemotherapy group.

When Herceptin plus chemotherapy is given for Metastatic Gastric Cancer treatment, there were:

• 6.2% fewer deaths compared to chemotherapy.

Treatment with Herceptin usually lasts 6 months to 1 year when it is used for early HER2+ breast cancer, or it is given until disease progression or intolerable side effects occur when it is given for HER2+ metastatic breast cancer or metastatic gastric cancer.

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