Targeted Therapy
How will I know if targeted therapy will help me?
Targeted therapy with drugs such as trastuzumab (known as Herceptin) will help you if you have the sort of cancer that is HER2 positive. To find out, tests are done on a small part of the breast cancer.
The tests will show one of two things:
1. Your breast cancer has high levels of HER2, which means it is HER2 positive. You will probably be offered trastuzumab to help treat your breast cancer.
2. Your breast cancer does not have high levels of HER2, which means it is HER2 negative. You will not be offered trastuzumab as a treatment because it won’t help treat your breast cancer.
What are the side effects of targeted therapy?
The drugs used in targeted therapy can cause side effects.
Some of the most common side effects are:
• Shivering and flu like symptoms
• Feeling or being sick
• Having diarrhoea
Always tell your breast care nurse or treatment team how your treatment is affecting you. They can often suggest things to help make side effects easier to cope with.
Trastuzumab (Herceptin) is normally given alongside a course of chemotherapy. It is given 3 weekly and continues for a year (total of 17 cycles). You will need to have regular heart scans as Trastuzumab can affect the heart. You will be closely monitored by your oncologist.
Disclaimer: On this website you will find advice to help you manage some of the more common but milder symptoms and side effects of breast cancer surgery. Please ONLY use this advice if you are currently participating in the ePainQ research project, otherwise you must follow the advice given to you by your medical team.
Clicking on the links in the left hand menu will take you to advice on looking after yourself during treatment. If after following the advice you don’t feel your symptoms are being successfully managed or relieved, or if you become more unwell, you should contact your hospital medical team immediately. This should your chemotherapy nurse specialist or your Breast Care Nurse on 0113 2068623