HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - To treat or not to treat VERY early stage HER2 IDC

musicmama · 02-25-2011, 06:03 AM

Hi again everyone,

I went to my second oncologist last night. He's the head of oncology at my local hospital and a breast specialist. He was very skeptical of my HER2 status. He says the lab that did the FISH test is notorious for over doing it and saying that you are HER2 when you're possibly not. I had a very borderline FISH score of 2.3....He's going to call the hospital where the biopsy was done and see if we can run another test. If not, I'm not sure what to do. He was leaning toward only doing Tamoxifen - based on the tiny tumor (.2mm) ER+/PR+ status and the equivocal FISH score. I was leaning toward doing Taxol/Herceptin to be safe but now I just don't know. I guess if we find that I'm not HER2 positive and I really trust that to be true, I might be okay just doing Tamox.

I know I should feel grateful that I'm in this position, that things were caught early and that I have choices, but I'm feeling so overwhelmed by this choice. I have a beautiful life and two beautiful children and I want to be here for them for a long long time. I know there are no guarantees either way but I'm just sick over the possibility that this thing will come back. Ugh...

Thanks to all of you for giving me your advice and support. It's good to be able to vent to people who get it.

More later I'm sure.

musicmama

02-25-2011, 06:03 AM	#38
musicmama Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 12	Re: To treat or not to treat VERY early stage HER2 IDC Hi again everyone, I went to my second oncologist last night. He's the head of oncology at my local hospital and a breast specialist. He was very skeptical of my HER2 status. He says the lab that did the FISH test is notorious for over doing it and saying that you are HER2 when you're possibly not. I had a very borderline FISH score of 2.3....He's going to call the hospital where the biopsy was done and see if we can run another test. If not, I'm not sure what to do. He was leaning toward only doing Tamoxifen - based on the tiny tumor (.2mm) ER+/PR+ status and the equivocal FISH score. I was leaning toward doing Taxol/Herceptin to be safe but now I just don't know. I guess if we find that I'm not HER2 positive and I really trust that to be true, I might be okay just doing Tamox. I know I should feel grateful that I'm in this position, that things were caught early and that I have choices, but I'm feeling so overwhelmed by this choice. I have a beautiful life and two beautiful children and I want to be here for them for a long long time. I know there are no guarantees either way but I'm just sick over the possibility that this thing will come back. Ugh... Thanks to all of you for giving me your advice and support. It's good to be able to vent to people who get it. More later I'm sure. musicmama __________________ DX 1/14/11 DCIS grade 2 + IDC grade 3 ER+/PR+ HER2+ 0/5 N age 48. Stage T1a (approx.2mm) Bilateral mastectomy with immediate DIEP reconstruction 2/4/11(very cystic breasts and didn't want to deal with the stress of constant biopsies).