HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - stage 1, er/pr negative and node negative

Jean · 08-21-2006, 10:29 PM

Rinaina,

Find comfort that each case is special. In my dx. my small tumor was aggressive and therefore Dr. S. and the Dr. back East also felt that even though my tumor was small it scored a 46 on the Oncotype with a high recurrance rate. Also my her2+++ was scored at 15...again very strong.
The KI-67 was another high feature - 40%
therefore taxol was a ticket for me. So I will have a total of 18 taxotere with my herceptin/chemo.
I was blessed that I caught this early and small. But I think it clearly shows two things. Size in this case DOES NOT MATTER....and I really believe the future care of bc will not be based on size only but rather the makeup of the tumor. I posted the other day a recent report on the testing of the tumors and how thay are accurate in detailing the entire tumor. Core biopsey or parafin testing was a major question to the integrity of the main turmor.
Now there is tested proof that these tests do show accurate reading of the makeup of the tumor. I too was node negative - I just did not buy into that
either - even though we know that is a favorable dx. it is not the only answer. We now know that t cells can travel and her2 like to step up shop else where. I think the polls that are now on -going thanks to Astrid will
begin to tell a story for us. But I do believe that the decison for taxol is
based on many factors not just the node negative status.
I wish you a steady recovery from your chemo trts I know you had some tough going there....thank God it is and shall stay behind you.
I am on number 5 with only one more to go- I am so happy to be seeing the light at the end of the chemo journey. One year of herceptin seems like a walk in the park compared to the chemo.

Warm Regards,
Jean

08-21-2006, 10:29 PM	#15
Jean Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 3,154	Rinaina, Find comfort that each case is special. In my dx. my small tumor was aggressive and therefore Dr. S. and the Dr. back East also felt that even though my tumor was small it scored a 46 on the Oncotype with a high recurrance rate. Also my her2+++ was scored at 15...again very strong. The KI-67 was another high feature - 40% therefore taxol was a ticket for me. So I will have a total of 18 taxotere with my herceptin/chemo. I was blessed that I caught this early and small. But I think it clearly shows two things. Size in this case DOES NOT MATTER....and I really believe the future care of bc will not be based on size only but rather the makeup of the tumor. I posted the other day a recent report on the testing of the tumors and how thay are accurate in detailing the entire tumor. Core biopsey or parafin testing was a major question to the integrity of the main turmor. Now there is tested proof that these tests do show accurate reading of the makeup of the tumor. I too was node negative - I just did not buy into that either - even though we know that is a favorable dx. it is not the only answer. We now know that t cells can travel and her2 like to step up shop else where. I think the polls that are now on -going thanks to Astrid will begin to tell a story for us. But I do believe that the decison for taxol is based on many factors not just the node negative status. I wish you a steady recovery from your chemo trts I know you had some tough going there....thank God it is and shall stay behind you. I am on number 5 with only one more to go- I am so happy to be seeing the light at the end of the chemo journey. One year of herceptin seems like a walk in the park compared to the chemo. Warm Regards, Jean Last edited by Jean; 08-21-2006 at 10:35 PM..