[Lani]

Since 1 in 9 women are at risk for breast cancer and since BRCA1/2 make up a tiny percentage of those with breast cancer(and usually ER- AND 97% Her2---the latter for brca1 at least), the chance of two or three female relatives with breast cancer in one's family is 1 in 84 and 1 in 831. Since her2 testing has only been done regularly within the last decade and only well in most locations within the last 3 years or so (and that is only if you lived in certain developed countries and near higher powered medical centers--ie, they are still debating in France whether to routinely test new breast cancer specimens for her2 and I am entirely unsure if they are doing it in Denmark), who is to say if your relative had her2+ vs her2- breast cancer if it was diagnosed in the past or in a location unlikely to have good testing.

According to Dr. Slamon, her2 breast cancer tends to recur somewhat earlier than her2- breast cancer(but as we all know this is very variable), but more importantly perhaps for differentiating it from her2 - breast cancer, and has been (before herceptin) associated with death within an average of one year from recurrence (vs death within an average of two years from recurrence for her2- breast cancer ) {recurrence defined as distal metastasis, not lymph node metastasis or in breast recurrence}

That said, I have been researching whether therre is such a thing as her2+ breast cancer--and have found a couple of interesting articles.


Department of Radiation Oncology, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY 10029, USA.
BACKGROUND: The HER2 gene, located on the long arm of chromosome 17, codes for a protein with the characteristics of a growth factor receptor. In a preliminary study, we reported that high levels of tumor HER2 (erbB-2/neu) protein are associated with a family history of breast cancer (that is, one or more female blood relatives with breast cancer). METHODS: We have now collected a larger number of subjects (94) and performed a multivariate analysis of the independent variables family history of breast cancer, tumor estrogen receptor, age, and tumor DNA index. Family history of breast cancer was assessed by questioning the patient, in many cases by telephone. RESULTS: HER2 levels were significantly higher in women with a family history of breast cancer (p = 0.015, two-tailed t-test). The 27 women with family history were predominantly postmenopausal, mean age 61 +/- 2.3 (mean +/- SEM), versus a mean age of 56