Hi Ladies, I’m a newbie so bare with me. I was diagnosed in dec 09 and had a double masectomy in feb, I have finished chemo and have had six herceptins and recently started Femara. I had a muga scan on wed and the result is the % has dropped again to 55%. Can anyone tell me if that is worryingly low, will the onc stop herceptin. Just when I try and get my head around what is happening something else crops up. Tks for your help
Hi Alner,
and welcome to the forums. My position is that I am on herceptin long term because I have metastatic disease. My understanding about results of MUGA scans is that when you start on herceptin your first muga scan is done as a baseline. Treatment with herceptin will be suspended if your LVEF falls by more than 10% from baseline, or below 50%.
My own muga results fluctuate quite a lot over the nearly 7 years I have been on the drug. They have varied from 68% to as low as 42%. I was able to persuade my oncologist to let me continue when it fell that low as I had no other symptoms and no alternative drugs at that time available. The muga scan results are only as good as the person who is reading them!! You could have a reading of say your 55% on the most recent scan and it could be up again next time by quite a large amount of say 68%. Dont think you need to worry too much at this reading, so long as you havent any symptoms of breathlessness or swollen ankles.
Dawn
xx
Hi Alner
As well as the support you receive from the other users you may find it useful to read the BCC booklet on herceptin as it has information on how it works and the possible side effects. If you would like to order a copy or read this on line just follow this link:-
I hope this helpful.
Best wishes Sam, Facilitator