for those with sentinel node micrometastases

[Lani]

not divided by her2 status, although another paper I just read today says her2+ breast cancer rarely presents with micrometastasis:

Ann Surg Oncol. 2007 Dec;14(12):3378-3384. Epub 2007 Sep 26. Links
The Prognostic Significance of Micrometastases in Breast Cancer: A SEER Population-Based Analysis.

Chen SL, Hoehne FM, Giuliano AE.
Joyce Eisenberg Keefer Breast Center, John Wayne Cancer Institute, Saint John’s Health Center, 2200 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA, 90404, USA, giulianoa@jwci.org.
INTRODUCTION: The prognostic significance of lymph node micrometastases in breast cancer is controversial. We hypothesized that the survival of patients with solely micrometastatic disease (N1mi) would be intermediate to patients with 1-3 tumor-positive lymph nodes (N1) and those with no positive lymph nodes (N0). METHODS: We queried the surveillance, epidemiology and end results (SEER) database for all patients between 1992 and 2003 with invasive ductal or lobular breast cancer without distant metastases and </=3 axillary nodes with macroscopic disease. Patients were stratified by nodal involvement and compared using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazards regression was utilized to compare survival after adjusting for patient and tumor characteristics. RESULTS: Between 1992 and 2003, N1mi diagnoses increased from 2.3% to 7% among the 209,720 study patients (p < 0.001). In a T-stage stratified univariate analysis, N1mi patients had a worse prognosis in T2 lesions. On multivariate analysis, N1mi remained a significant prognostic indicator across all patients (p < 0.0001) with a hazard ratio of 1.35 compared to N0 disease and 0.82 compared to N1 disease. Other negative prognostic factors included male gender, estrogen-receptor negativity, progesterone-receptor negativity, lobular histology, higher grade, older age, higher T-stage, and diagnosis in an earlier time period. CONCLUSION: Nodal micrometastasis of breast cancer carries a prognosis intermediate to N0 and N1 disease, even after adjusting for tumor- and patient-related factors. Prospective study is warranted and the results of pending trials are highly anticipated. Until then adjuvant therapy trials should consider using N1mi as a stratification factor when determining nodal status.
PMID: 17899293 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

[CoachPlayWin]

I've been trying to find out the prognosis for someone with my statistics. I had ER/PR-, Her2+++, 2.1 cm IDC with no pos lymph nodes. I have completed 4 rounds of AC, then 12 weekly Taxol/Herceptin with Herceptin for the remainder of the year. I had a MDM with no radiation. What kind of statistics are out there on recurrance, and what should I be looking for? It's so hard to think I am going through all of this, then it will come back because of the HER2. Does it always come back, or how often, in my circumstances?

[Mgarr]

CoachPlayWin,

Can't give you statistics but can tell you I am here 3 years after I discovered my lump, similiar to your diagnosis. There are many others here who have defied "odds" or "statistics" if you will. I myself try not to think of the statistics anymore it makes me crazy with worry when I do!