Do Herceptin (trastuzumab) injections hurt?
Herceptin (trastuzumab) is given as an intravenous infusion (IV drip), this requires a needle to be put into your vein which may hurt. Some patients experience an infusion reaction that has pain as one of the symptoms, but also has other symptoms of fever, chills, sometimes nausea, vomiting, pain, headache, dizziness, dyspnea, hypotension, rash, and weakness. If you have any of these symptoms it is important to inform the health care provider immediately.
The Herceptin Hylecta (trastuzumab and hyaluronidase-oysk) injection is given as a subcutaneous injection, which is an injection given under the skin. It may hurt when the health care profession pushes the needle into the skin and then you may feel discomfort as the Herceptin injected over a 2 to 5 minutes time period.
Does Herceptin cause pain as a side effect?
All medicines have side effects and one of the side effects of Herceptin is pain. From data collected over 4 studies showed pain was a side effect for 47% of patients using Herceptin as a single treatment agent.
For more information on Herceptin side effects click here: Herceptin side effects
References
Herceptin Medication Information: https://www.drugs.com/pro/herceptin.html
Herceptin Hylecta Medication Information: https://www.drugs.com/pro/herceptin-hylecta.html
Read next
What are monoclonal antibodies?
Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are man-made proteins that mimic the natural antibodies produced by our immune systems. Monoclonal antibodies can be formulated into medicines to treat various types of illnesses, such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis or psoriasis. Continue reading
What are biosimilar drugs and how do they compare to biologics?
A biosimilar is a biological product that is similar to a reference biologic (usually the originally approved product) and for which there are no clinically meaningful differences in terms of safety, purity, and potency. One example is Amjevita (adalimumab-atto), the first biosimilar approved for Humira (adalimumab) in 2016.
Continue reading
How long can you stay on Herceptin and Perjeta?
If you are receiving Perjeta for treatment of HER2+ early breast cancer, you may continue treatments with Herceptin every 3 weeks for one year (18 cycles total). For the treatment of HER2+ metastatic breast cancer, you will receive Perjeta and Herceptin until the medicine no longer controls your breast cancer or you have side effects that require you to stop treatment. You may receive other treatments with these medications. Continue reading
Related medical questions
- What happens after Herceptin treatment?
- How long can I stay on Herceptin?
- What are the biosimilars of Herceptin?
- What are biologic drugs and how do they work?
- What biosimilars have been approved in the United States?
- What is Herceptin? Is Herceptin a chemo drug? How does it work?
- How long does Herceptin stay in your body?
- How do Herceptin (trastuzumab) and Perjeta (pertuzumab) work together?
- How effective is Herceptin for Breast & Gastric Cancer?
- What is the difference between Herceptin and Herceptin Hylecta?
- Does Herceptin (trastuzumab) stop menstrual periods?
- What is the difference between Herzuma and Herceptin?
- What is the difference between Ogivri and Herceptin?
- How is Herceptin Injection and Herceptin Hylecta administered?
Drug information
- Herceptin (12 reviews)
- Trastuzumab (12 reviews)
- Herceptin Hylecta (1 reviews)
- Hyaluronidase (75 reviews)
Related support groups
- Herceptin (19 questions, 32 members)
- Trastuzumab (14 questions, 4 members)
- Herceptin Hylecta (5 questions, 4 members)
- Hyaluronidase (1 questions, 10 members)
- Breast Cancer (127 questions, 310 members)
- Breast Cancer, Metastatic (58 questions, 80 members)
- Breast Cancer - Adjuvant (32 questions, 22 members)
- Extravasation (3 questions, 4 members)