Herceptin recurrance success stories (esp. large node+\'s)??

[Rozebud]

I was dx'd with Stage IIIC b/c in January 04 while pregnant (33 at the time - baby was early but is fine). 2.5 cm tumor, with 11/18 lymph nodes involved (largest was 3.8cm). ER 0%, PR 27%, Her2+ 2.7, grade III, etc, etc.

I'm on A/C *4 (3 weeks), Taxotere *4 (3 weeks), and herceptin for a year. Plus radation.

Looking for success stories of patients who have been on herceptin for a while (over a couple of years) and especially with extensive lymph node involvement. My chance of mets is >50%....I'm just wondering if herceptin will help much in preventing recurrance?

Thanks in advance!!

[jojo]

Rozebud, welcome to our supportive group, although no one wants to get cancer. People here are wonderful & helpful.

I'm 36. I was dx stage 3b last year, but probably stage 3c, if dx occured this year. I was neoadjuvant, so after chemo tx (tac), I had a mastectomy & found 17 out of 18 nodes positive.
Primary tumor 6cm totally disappeared.

Been on Herceptin for almost a year. Was advised to suspend Herceptin when the year is up, since I'm not met & currently in remission.

Did you have node dissection before you had chemo? Is that how you found about your 11/18 nodes? Another question for you, how did you know about your chance of getting mets >50%? Did your onc tell you that?

I'll keep you posted with my status. I hope to be in remission forever!

So glad that your baby is fine. Must be the most precious gift to you through out this terrifying ordeal! What's his/her name? Congrats! :-)
Tell us how you're doing. Take care, Rozebud. Hugs

[Rozebud]

Thanks Jojo. I was reading some of your posts last night and was going to e-mail you if you didn't reply :) !

Baby's name is Sabrina. She was 5 1/2 lbs when she was born & now she's >16 lbs at 4 months! Thanks for asking. Do you have children?

I'm in a herceptin trial that required a mastectomy prior to surgery, so neoadjuvent chemo was not an option for me. On the stats.....the American Cancer Society publishes 5 year survival rates for stage III at 50%. Now, that was the old staging, not the new staging. However, if you go to Mayo's site, you can go into "your own chances" and put in age, # of lymph nodes, ER/PR status, etc, and it will give you expert opinion on your chances based on your chemo regime. This was also in the 50% chance range. So I figured some people get mets that don't die within 5 years, so the odds of mets are higher than 50%. But I'm also getting herceptin, so that should lower it by some percentage, but I don't know what it is. I mentioned the 50% number to both my onc. and surgeon and they told me the stats were probably pretty accurate. :( With 2 small children, I just needed to know what I was dealing with. I try not to think about the stats too much, but it's hard not to.

Of course you & I are going to be in the 50% that make it!!!

[jojo]

I didn't know about Mayo's website. Would you please send the link to my email? Thanks!

Will answer your questions via.

Talk soon!

And give a hug to your Sabrina for me. :-)

[Rschrief]

I had to reply to you. I was diagnosed with BC last year 10 out of 16 pos. lymphnodes. I was nursing my daughter at the time. I finish with Herceptin this Aug. I have no evidence of the disease. I have faith that it won't come back. I have a friend that is surviving with no mets 2 1/2 years after diagnosis. She had 20 out of 20 pos. lymphnodes, 6 cm tumor. She took TAC & herceptin. She is doing GREAT!
The old 50% rates I feel will change after this trial with Herceptin is over. I truly believe that!
Ruth

[dede]

Could you please post the Mayo link?

Thanx!

[Vi]

Memorial Sloan Kettering has a nomogram that helps patients and their physicians take some of the guesswork out of treatment decisions. The breast cancer nomogram is a prediction tool. It predicts the likelihood that cancer will spread beyond the sentinel lymph mode to additional lymph nodes under the arm. The study that demonstrates the adccuracy of the nomogram was published in the December 2003 issue of the Annals of Surgical Oncology. You can go to the MSKCC Web stite at www.mskcc.org/nomograms/breastcancer and read up on this. It's very interesting.

[Rozebud]

Ruth - Thanks for the reply. That is VERY encouraging.

I'm a little hestitant to post the link....just be careful with interpreting the statistics. I don't want to scare anyone. But anyway, here it is. You need to read through the disclaimer and agree at the bottom, and it will take you to the variables screen.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/takecharge/healthdecisionguides/avt/pg21.cfm

Also - remember, this is pre-herceptin!!

[Rschrief]

Hi Rose - I looked at the link too and it was pretty much what I expected. But then like you said the ones of us who are taking Herceptin and Taxol -those numbers will surely change!

Thanks and I agree that it would be very disturbing for someone who is not prepared to look at it.

I always look at the bright side and think about what is my percentage of getting so many other illnesses and I tell myself not to worry. It is what it is! And if we do develop a recurrance look at all of these wonderful women who post on the board and have been doing great. There is hope out there...every year it gets better and better.

Ruth

Ruth