HER2 ratio doesn't affect prognosis nor response (HERA)

[Debbie L.]

http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/18/2962

"Conclusion There was no evidence for reduced benefit of trastuzumab in HER2 IHC2+FISH+ cases. The degree of HER2 amplification does not influence prognosis or benefit from adjuvant trastuzumab in patients treated with prior adjuvant chemotherapy."

So that's another big study saying the same thing (although it is HERA, where the Herceptin was given after chemo, I think). I think I've only seen one small study that did appear to have found a connection between HER2 levels and response.

Debbie Laxague

[Hopeful]

Debbie, you are correct, the patients in the HERA trial received Herceptin after, not with, chemo.

Hopeful

[Rich66]

Maybe the cancer stem cell theory plays into this in that some suggest the small number of CSCs are ER-, Her2+...despite what the biopsy pathology suggests about the majority of tumor cells.