Re: Urgent question on behalf of a friend
Hi Vicki
I hope you are doing well. I think what the oncologist is saying is that they took enough of a sample to say its breast cancer but not enough to do much else. It would seem that they did do a hormone profile on it, at least I hope they did before saying she has to take an AI to shrink it. We all know that won't work if the tumor isn't ER+ at least. Your friend needs to find out if they absolutely know if it is ER and PR positive (and if it is highly positive). It would also be nice to find out if it is Her2+ just because if it is also Her2 and hormone positive, she might get really good results taking both (to shrink it).
It seems like they are blowing off the poor woman. What a tragedy!
They may know the prognostics though (ER, PR, Her2) but just don't know the grade, if it is ductal or lobular, that kind of stuff just because of the sample size. It sure would be nice to know if it has spread beyond the breast.
__________________
Kind regards
Becky
Found lump via BSE
Diagnosed 8/04 at age 45
1.9cm tumor, ER+PR-, Her2 3+(rt side)
2 micromets to sentinel node
Stage 2A
left 3mm DCIS - low grade ER+PR+Her2 neg
lumpectomies 9/7/04
4DD AC followed by 4 DD taxol
Used Leukine instead of Neulasta
35 rads on right side only
4/05 started Tamoxifen
Started Herceptin 4 months after last Taxol due to
trial results and 2005 ASCO meeting & recommendations
Oophorectomy 8/05
Started Arimidex 9/05
Finished Herceptin (16 months) 9/06
Arimidex Only
Prolia every 6 months for osteopenia
NED 18 years!
Said Christopher Robin to Pooh: "You must remember this: You're braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think"
|