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bjj · 11-05-2005, 11:39 AM

Hi

I live in the UK. I was diagnosed Jan 2005. Had WLE and axillary clearance. All my lymph nodes were clear. My tumour was Grade 2 and 13mm and ER+. I was told that I didn't need chemo but had 7 weeks of radiotherapy. I was happy with the no chemo decision at the time.

If you look at adjuvantonline.com you can see what difference the various options make for your particular cancer. Only look though if you really want to know the stats! Chemo in my case would have made very very little difference and my oncologist felt that the side effects just simply weren't worth it.

I have only just been tested for HER2 - it's not standard in this country. I had to insist. It has come back positive but the letter I had from my oncologist stated that she would not be recommending Herceptin in my case. I do not understand why. I have an appointment with her in a few weeks time.

I have read up a lot about the HERA trial. About a third of the people on it were node negative but the tumour size had to be over 1 cm. This might be why it is not recommended in your case.

Like you, I am terrified of recurrences. I was before I knew I was HER2+ and am even more scared now as it seems to indicate a worse prognosis and an increased chance of recurrence. I do not know why my oncologist is not recommending Herceptin as I fill the criteria needed for the HERA trial - the conclusion from that trial is that everyone meeting the criteria should be given Herceptin. I have a horrible feeling that it is because I didn't have chemo orginally. Personally I would find it hard to psyche myself up for chemo now having been told I didn't need it and as I am now starting to feel better after radiotherapy side effects. I just don't know what to do.

It seems that HER2+ could become in the future one of the indicators for having chemo or not. I wonder if I had been freshly diagnosed this week whether my onc would have insisted on chemo instead of advising me not to have it as she did in January when HER2 wasn't known.

You might find the following link helpful. It is a report from a meeting of experts about how to go about treating breast cancer and combinations of risk factors etc.

http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi...tract/mdi326v1

On the right hand side there is a link to download the full text of the meeting.

Hope this helps.

I'm still confused though!

11-05-2005, 11:39 AM	#15
bjj Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 36	Similar situation Hi I live in the UK. I was diagnosed Jan 2005. Had WLE and axillary clearance. All my lymph nodes were clear. My tumour was Grade 2 and 13mm and ER+. I was told that I didn't need chemo but had 7 weeks of radiotherapy. I was happy with the no chemo decision at the time. If you look at adjuvantonline.com you can see what difference the various options make for your particular cancer. Only look though if you really want to know the stats! Chemo in my case would have made very very little difference and my oncologist felt that the side effects just simply weren't worth it. I have only just been tested for HER2 - it's not standard in this country. I had to insist. It has come back positive but the letter I had from my oncologist stated that she would not be recommending Herceptin in my case. I do not understand why. I have an appointment with her in a few weeks time. I have read up a lot about the HERA trial. About a third of the people on it were node negative but the tumour size had to be over 1 cm. This might be why it is not recommended in your case. Like you, I am terrified of recurrences. I was before I knew I was HER2+ and am even more scared now as it seems to indicate a worse prognosis and an increased chance of recurrence. I do not know why my oncologist is not recommending Herceptin as I fill the criteria needed for the HERA trial - the conclusion from that trial is that everyone meeting the criteria should be given Herceptin. I have a horrible feeling that it is because I didn't have chemo orginally. Personally I would find it hard to psyche myself up for chemo now having been told I didn't need it and as I am now starting to feel better after radiotherapy side effects. I just don't know what to do. It seems that HER2+ could become in the future one of the indicators for having chemo or not. I wonder if I had been freshly diagnosed this week whether my onc would have insisted on chemo instead of advising me not to have it as she did in January when HER2 wasn't known. You might find the following link helpful. It is a report from a meeting of experts about how to go about treating breast cancer and combinations of risk factors etc. http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi...tract/mdi326v1 On the right hand side there is a link to download the full text of the meeting. Hope this helps. I'm still confused though!