['lizbeth]

Hello Benjamin,

1.) What a circle, a TH vs TCH study is what I based my treatment on in 2008. I could not tolerate the full dose of Taxotere and it was reduced to the same level as in TCH.

Wait until you received the test results from the BRCA genetics before deciding on treatment. I've read that the platinum salts are more effective with BRCA cancers, and so TCH might be a better option.

2. Surgery would be my choice to get clear margins. I am not a huge fan of radiation.

3. The margins were clear around the Pagets on the right and there was no evidence of disease in the left, so the surgeon's decisions seem quite sound about the management of nipple / areola complex.

4. Like most I had a chest port, only smaller - a Bard port which is the child's size. I still have a sensitive area years later that is bothered by the seat belt, and had the Port out in 2010.

Are there any clinical trials that use more Targeted therapies, and less chemo that your wife could enroll in?

You can search on Her2 at clinicaltrials.gov

That is a boat load of information you listed, but many of your wife's pathologies are favorable. The DCIS can be pagetoid spread, stemming from Paget's of the 'nipple' that was established in another area before it migrated back to the nipple. That has a history of not appearing on mammograms, but showing up on MRIs.

Don't agonize too much over the details. Even with her diagnosis she is most likely to complete treatment and will not experience a recurrence. Research, ask questions and be confident the choices you make will be the right ones.

If you check with 10 different ladies on this board, you will find 10 different ways to get to NED, no evidence of disease.

We are sorry your wife has had the diagnosis, but she is very lucky to have you as an advocate. Because of your support she will have an even greater chance of regaining her health and staying cancer free.

Keep up the good work!