HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - In Shift, Cancer Society Has Concerns on Screenings

bejuce · 10-22-2009, 10:21 AM

Sure, the advantages have been exaggerated, and better screening/diagnosis tests need to be developed. What's important is to not let these mixed and confusing messages make women think that BSEs and mammograms are not helpful and that they should not be doing any screening at all.

There are a lot of confusing and mixed messages and stats online and elsewhere and it is hard sometimes to digest them all. This morning, for example, I woke up with lots of hope and a new sense of normalcy as I had my last radiation treatment yesterday. Only to check my email on my iPhone and read an email from a woman in my local support group complaining of this very same article and quoting a figure that 40 % of all HER-2+ cancers develop brain metastasis. Reading that put me in a panic/depressive state of mind (I had not seen that before) until someone else pinched in that the 40% figure is for cancers that had already metastasized. So just goes on saying how important it is to read everything with a grain of salt and to always try to find the supporting evidence for those stats.

That's why I love this group - the most informed, non-judgmental people I have found so far.

10-22-2009, 10:21 AM	#6
bejuce Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 510	Re: In Shift, Cancer Society Has Concerns on Screenings Sure, the advantages have been exaggerated, and better screening/diagnosis tests need to be developed. What's important is to not let these mixed and confusing messages make women think that BSEs and mammograms are not helpful and that they should not be doing any screening at all. There are a lot of confusing and mixed messages and stats online and elsewhere and it is hard sometimes to digest them all. This morning, for example, I woke up with lots of hope and a new sense of normalcy as I had my last radiation treatment yesterday. Only to check my email on my iPhone and read an email from a woman in my local support group complaining of this very same article and quoting a figure that 40 % of all HER-2+ cancers develop brain metastasis. Reading that put me in a panic/depressive state of mind (I had not seen that before) until someone else pinched in that the 40% figure is for cancers that had already metastasized. So just goes on saying how important it is to read everything with a grain of salt and to always try to find the supporting evidence for those stats. That's why I love this group - the most informed, non-judgmental people I have found so far. __________________ ER+ (30%)/PR-/HER-2+, stage 3 Diagnosed on 02/18/09 at 38 with a huge 12x10 cm tumor, after a 6 month delay. Told I was too young and had no risk factors. Found swollen node during breastfeeding. March-August 09: neo-adjuvant chemo, part of a trial at Stanford (4 DD A/C, 4 Taxotere with daily Tykerb), loading dose of Herceptin 08/12/09 - bye bye boobies (bilateral mastectomy) 08/24/09 - path report shows 100 % success in breast tissue (no cancer there, yay!), 98 % success in lymphatic invasion, and even though 11/13 nodes were still positive, > 95 % of the tumor in them was killed. Hoping for the best! September-October 09: rads with daily Xeloda 02/25/10 - Cholecystectomy 05/27/10 - Bone scan clear 06/14/10 - CT scan clear, ovarian cyst found 07/27/10 - Done with Herceptin! 02/15/11 - MVA-BN HER-2 vaccine trial 03/15/11 - First CA 15-3: 12.7 and normal, yay! 10/01/11 - Bone scan and CT scan clear, fatty liver found now on Tamoxifen and Aspirin