HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post

Lien · 04-23-2007, 09:54 AM

Dear Nancy,

Welcome!

It's hard to answer these questions without knowing more about your path report.

What stage are you? How was your Her2 status assessed? Are you postmenopausal? Did you have clear margins? Node involvement? All these data are part of your personal Breast Cancer story.

Herceptin seems to reduce the risk of recurrence for most Her2 patients.

I wonder why your doc chose Tamoxifen over an Aromatase Inhibitor like Arimidex. Did s/he say anything about that?

Her2 is one of many factors that determine the risk of recurrence. We don't know enough about it yet. The good news is, that being her positive, you have a specific therapy available to you. Herceptin. It wouldn't work if you were her2 neg.

There are many people who have survived her2 pos disease. Most of them move on after a couple of years. The ones who stay on forums and email lists are often those who have had a recurrance. Or they just stay because they made friends here and want to help the newly diagnosed. I'm 3 years out from diagnosis and doing fine. My risk of recurrence is roughly 10%. This means that I have a 90% chance of never ever getting BC again. Despite my Her2 positive status.

It seems to me that you have quite a few questions that you should be able to discuss with your doctor. You may want to contact him or her about them. You have a right to know what s/he thinks about your individual situation.

Hope this helps.

Hang in there,

Jacqueline

04-23-2007, 09:54 AM	#7
Lien Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Haarlem, the Netherlands Posts: 835	Dear Nancy, Welcome! It's hard to answer these questions without knowing more about your path report. What stage are you? How was your Her2 status assessed? Are you postmenopausal? Did you have clear margins? Node involvement? All these data are part of your personal Breast Cancer story. Herceptin seems to reduce the risk of recurrence for most Her2 patients. I wonder why your doc chose Tamoxifen over an Aromatase Inhibitor like Arimidex. Did s/he say anything about that? Her2 is one of many factors that determine the risk of recurrence. We don't know enough about it yet. The good news is, that being her positive, you have a specific therapy available to you. Herceptin. It wouldn't work if you were her2 neg. There are many people who have survived her2 pos disease. Most of them move on after a couple of years. The ones who stay on forums and email lists are often those who have had a recurrance. Or they just stay because they made friends here and want to help the newly diagnosed. I'm 3 years out from diagnosis and doing fine. My risk of recurrence is roughly 10%. This means that I have a 90% chance of never ever getting BC again. Despite my Her2 positive status. It seems to me that you have quite a few questions that you should be able to discuss with your doctor. You may want to contact him or her about them. You have a right to know what s/he thinks about your individual situation. Hope this helps. Hang in there, Jacqueline __________________ Diagnosed age 44, January 2004, 0.7 cm IDC & DCIS. Stage 1, grade 3, ER/PR pos. HER2 pos. clear margins, no nodes. SNB. 35 rads. On Zoladex and Armidex since Dec. 2004. Stopped Zoladex/Arimidex sept 2009 Still taking mistletoe shots (CAM therapy) Doing fine.