How Long Does Trastuzumab Deruxtecan — Take to Work?

You will have blood tests before the infusion to check your counts and organ function. The infusion itself typically takes longer on your first visit than on later ones, and you are observed afterwards for any immediate reaction. Most people go home the same day. Infusions are given as day care at CION centres, so no overnight stay is planned. Ask your care coordinator what time to arrive and whether to eat or drink normally beforehand.

The timing of response assessment varies by drug and by cancer type, so two cycles means different things for different treatments. For trastuzumab deruxtecan, the clinical trial data that established how and when responses are measured used regular scans across the first few cycles. Your oncologist will tell you exactly when your scan is planned. That date may differ slightly depending on your cancer type and how treatment is being given alongside anything else.

You can always raise that with your oncologist, and the question will be taken seriously. Imaging earlier than planned rarely changes the clinical picture because not enough time has passed for meaningful change to appear. But if you are having new or worsening symptoms — not just anxiety about the timeline — that is a different situation, and your team may move the assessment forward. If something has changed clinically, call your team rather than waiting for the scheduled visit.

Stable disease means the cancer has not grown, which can be a meaningful outcome if it was previously growing quickly. Your oncologist will put the result in context of what the cancer was doing before you started, your overall health, and how well you are tolerating the drug. Some people continue for multiple cycles with stable disease before a clearer response appears. The decision about what to do next is made scan by scan, and a single result is rarely the whole story.

Not necessarily. Side effects such as fatigue, nausea and hair thinning are common with this treatment and are a response to the drug in your system, not a sign of the cancer progressing. Feeling worse in the early weeks can happen in people who go on to have a clear response on imaging. That said, feeling significantly worse needs to be reported to your team rather than tolerated at home. There is a difference between expected side effects and something that needs clinical attention, and your team can help you tell the two apart.

There is no fixed number that applies to everyone. Your oncologist will review each response assessment and weigh the benefit the drug appears to be providing against the side effects you are experiencing. Treatment may continue for as long as the cancer is responding and the drug is tolerable. Decisions about pausing or stopping are made on an ongoing basis. The plan set out at your first appointment is a starting point, and it will be revisited at each review.