St. Gallen breast cancer risk category for relapse includes her2

[RobinP]

The new 2005 St. Gallen guidelines for breast cancer staging include her2 as a prognostic index as opposed to ignoring it like the Nothamington Prognostic index and other guildlines. It's about time her2 is not ignored as a increased risk factor for relapse. All her2s are either at intermediate or high risk according to the new 2005 St. Gallen standards.Two new prognostic features are included in the updated 2005 St. Gallen's standards.The first was over-expession or amplification of the HER2/neu gene, and the second was peritumoural vessel invasion, especially lymphovascular invasion.

http://www.breastcancersource.com/breastcancersourceHCP/9678_13596_7_0_0.aspx

[Becky]

When you look at the risk chart - is Her 2 positive cancer with 1-3 nodes involved intermediate or high risk? It seems to be in both places.


Anyone who reads this, let me know your opinion.

Thanks,

Becky

[AlaskaAngel]

Becky it looks like to me that because

intermediate includes those with 1-3 positive nodes who are not HER2 positive, and

high risk is for those with 1-3 positive nodes who are HER2 positive,

they have a what looks like a "gray area box" in-between, so for anyone in that area, probably the risk would depend on additional risk factors that aren't specified, and maybe they aren't sure which factors count most for that yet...

Just my guess.

A.A.