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Old 08-13-2006, 08:20 PM   #3
janet/FL
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 312
Susan, I know how confusing all of this is and so much to learn so quickly. At this point you know quite a bit. The easiest question to answer is -- what is NED. That mean, no evidence of disease which we all hope will be in our future.

You are hormone dependant. But there are different degrees of dependancy. And there is ER+or - and PR+ or -. We can be estrogen positve and progestin negative or just the opposite. I am ER/PR - which means that my cancer was not driven by hormones. Yours are but to what degree you may not know at this time.

Her2 + when written now often seems to just mean that the writer is Her2 positive. I believe that Her2 +++ would be the correct way to write it if we are strongly postive as stated by the lab. You may also have been given the FISH test to determine your Her2 status. I am FISH positive. Please someone correct me if I am wrong so as not to confuse Susan further.

Being Her2 +++ and hormone dependent can be good! You will be treated with a homone surpressent for the part of your cancer that is hormone driven, and with Herceptin to handle the cancer that is driven by that protein. And for further definition of that, you can look it up at the link Joe gave above as I was not a science major and don't want to confuse you further.

As you said, there is a likelyhood that the cancer may reappear somewhere else in your body. However, with your diagnsis and the treatment that is available today there is an excellent chance it will dissappear and not come back again.

I hope this helped and didn't confuse you more. If you think I can help you with this, you may send me a personal message and if you want we can talk on the phone. Sometimes that is easier though there are others on this list that I am sure can answer your questions with more authority and clearer than I.
Hugs,
Will send good thoughts your way.
Janet
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