Now with the availability of Herceptin, we begin to see patients suffering from brain metastasis. Is there any correction between this treatment and brain metastasis?
We recognise that our observations are anecdotal and therefore can be disputed. A search in the net yielded some results which are indeed worthy to take note of. The Boston Globe (A new peril for breast cancer survivors by Liz Kowalczk, 7 February 2006) carried a story of Amy Socia who was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 43 years old. She underwent a mastectomy, breast reconstruction surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In spite of the medical treatments the cancer spread to her liver and spine. Amy was prescribed the so-called promising drug – Herceptin – and “miraculously” her cancer began to shrink! But it was not to be. Not long afterwards (five years after her initial diagnosis) two tumours appeared in her brain. This led Amy to conclude: “There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer. It never goes away. You just move from treatment to treatment.” Amy’s story is not much different from Fransiska’s.
