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dlaxague · 10-19-2008, 05:43 AM

Good morning all. We're getting off on two separate tangents - just want to clarify.

I was asking Sarah if she'd had a second opinion on her original pathology. A second look by experienced experts at the same tissue from the primary surgery. That's what I had. It was not that the cancer changed, it was that the first pathology report was wrong.

On the second tangent - yes it's possible (though not typical) for cancer to have changed status when it recurs. Most often, if there are changes, it goes from positive to negative in ER and/or PR and from negative/normal to positive for HER2. There are reports of the other way round (for both) but they are really rare and some people think when that happens, or appears to happen, that it's lab error not true change in that direction.

Debbie Laxague

10-19-2008, 05:43 AM	#33
dlaxague Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 221	Change in status vs. error in assay Good morning all. We're getting off on two separate tangents - just want to clarify. I was asking Sarah if she'd had a second opinion on her original pathology. A second look by experienced experts at the same tissue from the primary surgery. That's what I had. It was not that the cancer changed, it was that the first pathology report was wrong. On the second tangent - yes it's possible (though not typical) for cancer to have changed status when it recurs. Most often, if there are changes, it goes from positive to negative in ER and/or PR and from negative/normal to positive for HER2. There are reports of the other way round (for both) but they are really rare and some people think when that happens, or appears to happen, that it's lab error not true change in that direction. Debbie Laxague