Author Question: A patient who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer asks why her treatment plan does not ... (Read 21 times)

lunatika · **on:** Jul 23, 2018

A patient who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer asks why her treatment plan does not include the new drug Herceptin that she has read about. What is the nurse's best response?

a. Your immune system is too weak to tolerate Herceptin.
b. This drug is experimental and dangerous for you to take before trying other therapies.
c. Your breast cancer does not have the protein that this drug works on, so you would not benefit from this therapy.
d. You are young and can better tolerate the standard therapies for breast cancer that have been proven effective but have strong side effects.

Question 2

Which chemotherapy problem, experienced by a patient after the first round of chemotherapy, does the nurse report to the prescriber to reduce the chemotherapy dose or delay the next treat-ment?

a. Productive cough and fever
b. Loss of scalp and body hair
c. Moderate nausea and vomiting
d. Fatigue and increased sleep time

zoeyesther · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 23, 2018

Answer to Question 1

C
Trastuzumab (Herceptin) is a type of targeted therapy that is an antibody directed against a spe-cific protein that some breast cancers make. When Herceptin binds to this protein, cancer cell growth is inhibited and the cell dies. Only about 5 of all breast cancers have the protein that Herceptin binds to. If the cancer does not overexpress that protein, Herceptin will not have any therapeutic effect.

Answer to Question 2

A
A productive cough and fever are indicators of infection. The chemotherapy reduces the white blood cell count and greatly reduces the patient's ability to recover from the infection. This is a life-threatening complication of chemotherapy that requires either a reduced drug dose or delay of treatment.