My late wife died of metastaic breast cancer in the pre Herceptin era. She was HER-2 positive. She left two daughters who are now young women, 24 and 19 years of age. Recently, I have read of the disproportionately high incidence of breast and ovarian cancer at all ages for women who have either the BRCA 1 or BRCA2 gene.
Can anyone tell me whether there is a correlation between tumors that have excess HER-2 and the presence of either of the BRCA genes? If that is the case, I ought to let the girls know. Perhaps, they will want gene testing.

I would definitely have them tested for your and their piece of mind. My wife was Her2 and came back negative for BRCA1 and 2 so we are awaiting the results of other genetic tests. I'm sorry about the loss of your wife. My thoughts are with you.

Eric

Your daughters should be tested for the gene regardless of whether there is a correlation between her2 and brca genes. Their mom had breast cancer. That is close enough to warrant testing in my opinion. Wish I had had the testing before I had to go and get the damn disease....I definitely would have had prophylactic mastectomies and oophorectomies.

lauren

I agree...though we hear it all the time, "early detection is key" we forget how powerful that message is, in fact.
My both sisters have breast cancer. I am currently waiting for my genetic test results. We were told that there is only a 10% chance that this could be linked genetically. But though I don't have cancer, I've witnessed first-hand the uncredible emotional and physical pain. I would take any precaution to prevent it for myself or my daughter.

Hello Leonard,

I've never heard of a correlation between her2 and brca but of course maybe no one else has asked this question yet. The one thing I do know is that women with the mutation tend to develop cancer quite young...I don't know if this was true of your late wife.

That said, you might first continue to gather information before presenting any of this to your daughters. For instance, YOU could make an appointment for yourself with a genetic counselor at a cancer center and they can run your family's medical history (not just your late wife's but yours too: the mutation can be passed down through fathers as well--especially those who have Ashkenazic Jewish heritage) and run a program that would at least tell you what your daughters' likelihood is of having inherited the gene mutation.

That said, my partner Rachel did just this, came out with a VERY high probability of having the mutation, and then did the blood test only to find out she doesn't have it. As she said at that time, this just means she has some other mutation they haven't found yet.

In any event, I'm so sorry for your loss and so sorry you still face these hard questions.
Good luck.
Jeff

It's not a question of early detection, it is about absolute (or near absolute) prevention. No breasts means a better chance of NEVER getting breast cancer. Ditto for ovaries. I vote on the side of knowledge every time.