Pathology changing?

[TSund]

I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but finally getting to it. While thrilled with the result of Ruth's pre-surgery chemo, when we got the marker results several days after initial pathology came back, the lab now marked the cancer as 50% ER+ and PR negative. I was stunned by this, nurse said not to worry, it happens all the time because of the chemo.

?? What does this mean? Why does it happen? Is it likely to be the same throughout the body if there are any cells left?

And, if the chemo causes a changing pathology, then what does this mean for post chemo treatments like hormone treatment? Now that Ruth is on it, it's really not going to do as much good because the receptor cells have changed?

I welcome any thoughts.

THX

TRS

[Becky]

Get repeat readings on the slides - both the new slides and the original slides from another laboratory. This is extremely important because Ruth's hormone profile (most recent) is exactly like mine and for PR neg but only moderately ER+ does not respond well to Tamoxifen. Therefore, being postmenopausal is more important now.

Send the slides to a large teaching hopsital for a second opinion pathology. I did this and sent to both Sloane and Johns Hopkins as Sloane said something different versus my local hospital. Johns Hopkins conferred with Sloane (I also had a separate DCIS that I wanted to ensure did not have an invasive component. All 3 labs said no).

Do it! Its important to ensure the right pathology.