HER2+ guide

Click on the link to read a guide to understanding HER2+ breast cancer.

This guide was sourced from Dr Sara M. Tolaney’s webpage: retrieved 17.12.16 @ 5:50.

Dr. Tolaney is a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Mass., where she focuses on developing new treatments for breast cancer. She is also a medical instructor at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Tolaney received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1998 and her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco in 2002. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University and a fellowship in hematology-oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

In 2009, I had triple positive breast cancer, meaning my type of cancer liked oestrogen, progesterone and the HER2 protein for breakfast. There are newer (and better) drug combinations on the market now. (See the wonky photograph).

I snapped this from, I believe, expatriate Australian Dr Shom Goel’s talk. If you’re based in the USA he’s a leading light in HER2 positive research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

T-DM1 is a targeted antibody-drug conjugate: Herceptin (trastuzumab) and emtansine  (DM1). Herceptin binds to the receptor (on the cancer cells). Emtansine enters the cells and destroys them. This regimen is for women with metastatic breast cancer, and/or who’ve become resistant to Herceptin.

(From 2016 Clinical Oncology Society of Australia conference).

Partners for Progress in Breast Cancer Research and Care

Partner: Australia & New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group (ANZBCTG)

In November 2016 I did the IMPACT* Advocacy training program at the annual Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) conference. Over three days I learnt about the latest research from around the globe on breast cancer and current treatments (surgical and chemotherapeutic).

I’m going to post some slides, and summaries on the latest chemotherapy drug combinations to target HER2 positive breast cancer. If you have the HER2 gene mutation this could be useful.

(I’m the one in the red-desert pattern dress.)

*Improving Participation and Advocacy for Clinical Trials.