Lani, anyone? ,Elevated ANA titer, have questions?

[Soccermom]

Is anyone knowledgeable in the area of ANA (anti-nuclear antibody) titers and its relationship (or lack thereof)to being Her2+?
I am being checked for inflammatory disease and the only test that came back high is my ANA titer(160). The Doc suggested that I do further testing to rule out Lupus, Scleroderma or other auto- immune conditions. Was wondering if this elevation might have something to do with having had Herceptin, which is a monoclonal antibody, and could therefore assume the reading is "normal" for my body.

Thanks for any andall info!

Marcia

[michele u]

Marcia,

very interesting you are asking. I had a elevated ANA for 10 years before dx. I had 3 miscarriages in earlies 1990's. My ANA has been high every since. I did all the testing like you, and the only thing that has been high is the ANA. I think there is some connection with pos. ANA and getting breast cancer. I don't think it is the Herceptin. Why did they check a ANA on you? The funny thing is that when i was in the vaccine trial after i was done Herceptin my ANA titer went back to normal. Figure that. After my last vaccine injection is was a little high again. I went to rheumitologist and everything and they couldn't find anything either.

[Lani]

I have read papers which say herceptin may decrease T regulatory cells (a good thing in that they keep the immune system from attaciking the cancer cells, but a bad thing in that it may cause the body to fail to recognize its own tissues as "self" and potentially bring on autoimmune diseases)

Try not to worry, get the work-up and let us know how it comes out. Best of liuck (short as I am out of town with limited internet access)

[StephN]

My ANA has been running positive ever since I was tested for all sort of things when I got the "adult version" of Fifth's Disease in 1994. It is a kind of Parvo virus, but not what dogs get!!

I got this from my poor little grandson who was sick after I picked him up at school and brought him home till his Mom could get him. We did not know what he had - just the early symptome which could have been anything.

All the rheumatoid tests came out neg and my docs could not figure out anything else. No lupus or other such cause came to light.

After my second bout with chemo I had sore and swollen wrists and hands. Again all the tests came out neg but the ANA. MY ANA continues to be positive but not very high. This knocked me out of the DNA vaccine trial here at the U of W. I was tested two times lately.

I really do not think it is the Herceptin in my case.

[Soccermom]

Good morning ladies!
I had bloodwork to search for the cause of the ongoing pain and swelling in my hands/wrists etc. I also had some mysterious skin lesions a while back which the skin Docs called "granuloma annulare" (which can be a result of a compromised immune system) so I doing a bit of "sleuthing" on my own. And yes, I am on Arimidex...
I have been taking Cymbalta for the past 3 months and have had some relief. In fact in since the weathers been warming up here I have felt much better for the first time in 2 years.
. The recommendation is for me to see w/a Rheumatologist. Not sure IF I am spinning my wheels or not. May just let this one go as its time for my 6 mo CT and Bone scan..so MANY tests so little TIME...argh!
Thanks for your responses...this may be a subject we need to look at in terms of our community.

Marcia

[rinaina]

This is an interesting subject. My ANA is tested yearly due to me having and auto-immune disease called Sjogren's Syndrome. I have often wondered if having Sjogren's or any of the auto-immune diseases pre-disposes one to getting cancer and all I could find was that there is a slight increase in Lymphoma for Sjogren patients. When it comes to things like this, does medical science really have all the answers? My guess is no because sometimes things aren't tracked or they just plain old don't know yet. Next time I go to my rheumatologist I will ask him what he knows and ask him to probe deeper this time.

[Karen Weixel]

I am pretty sure my ANA was/is high and my anit smooth muscle titer is also high. All of this was checked out, pre bc diagnosis because I had chronic hives for 5 months. I had so many blood test, I can't even remember which ones I've had.

I ended up having a liver biopsy (to check for auto immune Hepatitis) and it came back negative.

Very interesting thread.

Karen

[Lani]

might AIs increase incidence of Sjogren's syndrome, rhematoid arthritis

I already theorized earlier however that Herceptin, by decreasing T regulatory cells, may possibly cause predispose to autoimmune diseases

Trying not to alarm, as all this is still very preliminary and unknown

[Mary Anne in TX]

Go to Lab tests on line.com and you can read all about it. ma

[Lani]

I was directing soccermom and others with concerns about Sjogrens' syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases to look at the abstract I posted on a possible increased risk of such diseases with AIs

[Mary Anne in TX]

When I want to read more about the tests that I have or have heard of and don't understand, I go to LabTestsOnLine.com and read all about them. It's a great resource.

http://www.labtestsonline.org/index.html

[Lani]

see my post on possible link between AIs and Sjogrens, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune disorders w elevated ANA or rheumatoid factor

note, though, that Herceptin has been reported to decrease T regulatory cells (good thing for those w bc), which may predispose to autoimmune disease though (not so good in the long run, but at least it helps provide a longrun)

[PinkGirl]

for that link to the lab tests on line site. I checked it out and it looks very helpful. I am sure I'll be using it in the future. Thanks.

[Mgarr]

I plan on reading the abstract (hopefully I can understand it) anyway, I am not nor have been on AI's and I too had to see a rheumatologist and have been diagnosed w/ an arthritis that is inflammatory as described to me it is an autoimmune disease. Aside from my hip the moved in my wrist, hands, elbows then the larger lower joints.

Best of luck.

[Sheila]

There is also a link between silicone breast implants and auto immune disease....just a FYI for any of us that have one or two .