What is the life expectancy of someone with metastatic breast cancer?
Between 20 and 30 percent of women with early stage breast cancer go on to develop metastatic disease. While treatable, metastatic breast cancer (MBC) cannot be cured. The five-year survival rate for stage 4 breast cancer is 22 percent; median survival is three years. Annually, the disease takes 40,000 lives.
What is Herceptin and Perjeta used for?
About Perjeta and Herceptin Both Perjeta and Herceptin are targeted therapy medicines that treat HER2-positive breast cancer by blocking the cancer cells’ ability to receive growth signals.
Can metastatic breast cancer be cured?
While there is no cure for metastatic breast cancer, there are treatment options available that can extend a patient’s life, while maintaining quality of life.
What are the side effects of Perjeta and Herceptin?
The most common side effects of PERJETA when given with Herceptin and docetaxel for treatment of breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic) are diarrhea, hair loss, low levels of white blood cells with or without fever, nausea, feeling tired, rash, and damage to the nerves (numbness, tingling …
Is metastatic breast cancer a death sentence?
Let’s start with what a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis is not: a death sentence. In fact, as many as 34% of the 154,000 women with this diagnosis have survived five years or more.
What is the difference between Herceptin and Perjeta?
Perjeta targets a different area on the HER2 receptor than Herceptin does, so it’s believed to work in a way that is complementary to Herceptin. By blocking the signals, Perjeta can slow or stop the growth of the breast cancer. Perjeta and Herceptin are examples of immune targeted therapy.
Is Perjeta an immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pertuzumab and cetuximab, may help the body’s immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread.