What are financial implications of using herceptin (trastuzumab) as a breast cancer treatment?

?: I have never had an issue of trastuzumab (herceptin) coverage in appropriate patients. Individual co-pays are based on each patients insurance. There may be a benefit of trastuzumab in 0/low expression breast cancer that is the subject of a cooperative group clinical trial -- nsabp b-47 - clinicaltrials.Gov id: nct01275677.

Depends : Herceptin (trastuzumab) is a very expensive drug so the total cost of treatment will be obviously higher. That said, it is a good drug and most insurances will cover its use in the appropriate setting. Best regards.

Good question: Herceptin (trastuzumab) is very effective for breast cancers that overexpress the her2/neu receptor. But as you point out it is very expensive. The financial implications are huge for the us healthcare system. Studies done outside the us show that far less than 1 year of Herceptin (trastuzumab) may be enough for treating early stage breast cancer, but studies done in the us don't look at how to make treatments less costly.