Wrong Timing of Herceptin Affects The Heart
New research suggests that the timing of when a woman receives the breast cancer drug Herceptin can influence its effect on her heart. Herceptin (trastuzumab) can be a powerful cancer suppressor for certain women, although its cardiovascular side effects are known. Now, Canadian research suggests that giving the drug concurrently with chemotherapy carries less cardiac risk than giving it after the chemo. The study, which is published in the July 5 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine , underlines the fact that patients "need to have proper cardiac monitoring" while on Herceptin, said one outside expert, Dr. Edith Perez, professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. The new findings are similar to those found in clinical trials that compared the two treatment approaches, added the study's lead researcher Dr. Heather L. McArthur, now a special fellow at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. "It's reassuring that the resu...