What does it mean when you are her2 1??

[Steph]

I have a friend who has had a couple recurrences and the Dr's have retested her hoping each time she was her2+ so they could give her herceptin. The last biopsy it said she was her2 1. What does this mean. Does it mean that her2 is slightly overexpressed? If you were her2- would it be 0? She failed on tamoxifan and supressing the ovaries now they are suppressing the ovaries still but this time she on the aromatose inhibitor. She also carries a rare gene(p53,i think, cannot remember the medical name...some kind of syndrome) Her daughter passed away when she was young from a brain tumor so she more than likely had the gene too.(her children have a 50%chance of having it) She just wants to know all her options and because I wasn't sure what her2 1 meant I thought I'd ask here because you are all so knowledgable.

Thanks,
Steph

[mts]

Steph,

I copied this info off a medical terminology website:

'Grade' means how similar the cancer cells are to normal cells of the same type. That is, how like normal breast cells your breast cancer cells appear when they are examined under a microscope. Grade can be described as high or low. Or it may be given a number, usually 1- 4 - the lower the number, the lower the grade. Low grade cancer cells look most like normal cells. High grade cancer cells look least like normal cells.

The grade gives your doctor some idea of how the cancer might behave. High grade cancers may be faster growing, or more likely to spread. For many types of cancer, your treatment may be different depending on whether you have a high or low grade cancer. For example, you are more likely to be offered chemotherapy after surgery for breast cancer if you have a high grade cancer, even if there is no sign that the cancer has spread.

Please let your friend know I hope she finds the treatment that she needs...
Maria (MTS)

[Barbara H.]

Steph,
She also may have meant HER1. If you use google you can find information on that.
Best,
Barbara H.

[CPA]

There are two ways to test for Her2.

IHC measures the amount of the receptor protein and is graded from 0 to 3. These tests are generally done in most labs at most hospitals.

The FISH test actually measures for the abnormal gene. It is positive or negative. The FISH test is usually performed at a regional lab with specialty genetic testing equipment.

It sounds like your friend had a IHC test but not a FISH test. A low IHC score (0 or 1) generally rules out herceptin as a treatment option, she may request her oncologist order a FISH test to be sure because IHC has some margin for error. Sometimes a IHC 1 will come back positive by fish and be a candidate for Herceptin.

Good Resource: http://www.breastcancer.org/herceptin_treatment.html

[Becky]

My mother is Her2 +1 and her pathology report says normal. We were done at the same lab and mine says Her2 +3 - overexpressed (so my mom's actually states Her 2 +1 - normal). I have always accepted that 0 or +1 is normal, +2 is borderline (and FISH should be done to confirm) and +3 is plain old overexpressed.


p53 (tumor suppressor gene) mutations are inherited and cause many different types of cancer including bc. Julierene on this board carries this mutation and may be able to help answer some of your friend's and your questions.

Kindest regards

Becky