My oncologist called late last week to talk about a current Phase III clinical trial. This trial is for a specific subset of breast cancer patients. When I received my biopsy results, as well as the surgery pathology, it was determined I was HER2 negative. HER2 is a protein that attaches to the cancer cell and becomes part of the fuel for the cancer. This is considered to be a very aggressive type of cancer as this type typically grows very quickly because of the protein.
In all actuality my cancer is not a true HER2 negative, but rather a HER2 low. There isn't enough of the protein to consider it positive. The clinical trial the office called about is investigating whether or not HER2 low patients would benefit from the standard of care given to HER2 positive patients. There have been studies in England and Europe that have proven HER2 low patients to benefit from receiving the medicine Herceptin as part of their protocol. It cuts the recurrence rates in half.
It is a 50% chance I will be randomized into the group who receives the medicine. If not I will be in the control group for the study. The study will follow my treatment for 10 years. If the study reaches a Phase IV and eventually FDA approved then I would be one of the first people to receive this new protocol.
I have signed my consents to be a part of the study and now wait for randomization. I hope I get the Herceptin, but if not I know that I will be furthering the knowledge of breast cancer. And specifically breast cancer for women under 30. There aren't a lot of statistics or studies done on my group of women, but in my opinion we are the ones who need it. We have too many years to live and more research should be done on how to minimize recurrence and metastasizing cancers. This is just one way I will give back to the women who will follow me on this never ending bumpy path.
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