I agree with the aggressive approaches mentioned above. At the same time, I think Herceptin with Taxol and no chemo is an option as the BIRG study from this week's newest news releases says that HT is just as effective as ACTH, meaning chemo or AC treatment had no advantage on survival relapse outcomes compared to just Her. and taxol. See Dr. susan love website blog on the san ant. breast conf. for more information of the San antonio breast website.

Jenna,

I feared the Her2 much more than the treatment.
I also had a small 6MM tumor, node negative,
clean margins. But please do remember her2 likes to
"Travel" this disease is not a fair player. It is much
easier to treat this monster while contained once
the horse is out of the barn the fight becomes
so difficult.

You will often read on this site how we are all different
and the cancer reacts to each one of us differently, well
the constant thing about her2 is that it is nasty. Don't be shy
with this.....I did choose to treat with full guns and
I will share with you I still live in fear....Also please do keep
in mind that there is a new generation of her2 early stagers,
the results of which are still not out. The last year or so
many early stagers have chosen to take treatment and
we will learn more as time passes. Hopefully we may see
less recurrence and stop this disease in its tracks. I do
know that Dr. Slamon told me that chemo works well with
herceptin and who knows that using the chemo with the early stagers
may just be our winning ticket? No one has any answers just yet.


Wishing you the best,
Jean

I agree with everything said here. Please treat this recurrence aggressively. All the very best to you. MJO

Second Opinion
 

If it would make you feel better, you may want to get a second opinion. I'm not familiar with any of these meds. The more you know, the better, you need options...God bless you.

Jenna,
Sorry you are having to deal with this again. You asked for advice, and I guess you can tell where people stand on this question!

You also asked for similar experiences. I had a similar experience: initial diagnosis of DCIS, mastectomy, dirty margins, reexcision. I was not offerred chemo or rads, and at the time of my diag, they did not even test DCIS for ER/PR/Her2. Two years later, I had a recurrence to my liver. I'm not saying that would happen to you - remember, 99% of DCIS does not recur. But that was my experience. Although I prefer to look forward, I guess part of me will always wonder if things might have gone differently.

You are fortunate to have doctors willing to treat this aggressively. There is more known about this now - in fact there were several posters at San Antonio dealing with the question of how to predict which DCIS is likely to recur. I haven't unpacked any of my "stuff", but ask your oncologist about this.

A second opinion is worthwhile. In the end, you will have to make the decision based on the best information you can get. Of course I'm biased, but if it was me with my 20/20 hindsight, I'd go for confronting this aggressively.

good luck with your decision

I'd go for the chemo and radiation. treat it aggressively.
good luck
sarah

Decision Made After Reoccurance!
 

Hey guys - Thank you all for your opinion on my reoccurance. I thought I'd share some important information with you all regarding my decision to receive chemotherapy or not.

I went to the University of Chicago - for my second opinion - I met with Dr. Fumi Ogalpade (she specializes in young women's breast cancer & genes) .... At any rate, their multidisciplinary board reviewed my case and is recommending radiation only. In their words if I did chemo it would be "overkill"....

Here is the difference. My tumor was .66 mm (most of which was DCIS) .1mm was invasive ductal cancer. No Node Involvement. Bone Scans Negative. CT scan Negative. Clean Margins. Although this was a reoccurance the area that was invasive was so small therer is no reason to do chemo (the risks outweigh the benefits in my case.)

My previous doctor recommended a/c taxol and herception .... She had not performed the ER- test, FISH test, IHC test until I asked her to perform it. She just assumed since I was young she'd give me the big guns -without really studying my case. Obviously, I felt unsure of all of this and did a lot of research ... and got my second opinion from a comprehensive cancer center.

At any rate, I want to encourage everyone of you to seek second opinions if you are unsure of your treatment plan... It is worth the extra cost and the extra time it involves! Doctors can differ in their opinions. In my case, the difference was extreme.

At any rate, I hope my story will inspire some of you who are unsure of your treatment plan to ask questions. Not everyone who is young should receive chemotherapy.... The risks are tremendous.

Thanks for your well wishes.
Jenna Hill

I am happy you got another opinion and that you are more comfortable with it. I am a firm believer in getting other opinions and in some cases more than one to satisfy oneself that you fully investigated all options and became more knowleagable, enough so to make an informed decision based on all opinions. All the best to you.

Jeanna,

Your experience is a great lesson to all of us. Thanks closing the loop here. I am glad for you that you now have a treatment plan and a path you believe in. Good luck to you, and happy holidays.

Hopeful