Was HER2+ always around
 

Hi all HER2 family,

I know this sounds silly, but does anyone know if HER2+ breast cancer was around years ago or if it has become some kind of mutated cancer. I have several (acquaintances) not fellow bc friends, who have been indicating to me that this is something new. If I am correct they did not start testing for this until about 10 years ago and that may answer my own question. I guess if they didn't test they wouldn't know but they are insisting this is something that has evolved into a new type of cancer. None of these people are trained in medicine or science and neither am I. Just wondering if anyone has any data on this. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Liz J.

Liz,
The HER2/neu gene has always been around, but not discovered until the late 80's.

An excellent resource is "HER2 - The Making of Herceptin" by Robert Bezell. It is available on Amazon for less than $5.00.

Warmest Regards
Joe

Thank you Joe
 

Thanks Joe,

I will check that book out. I knew I could count on you. I am sure this will put lots of things into perspective.

Sincerely,

Liz J.

Liz
I do know that my Mom was diagnosed in the '80's and was not tested, but despite this and 13 positive nodes, she is a 20 year survivor only taking tamoxifen

Her2, old or new....
 

Well, wouldn't there be some fairly ancient preserved tumors around from other tumor studies done a decade or more ago that could still be sampled for HER2?

A.A.