[tousled1]

Becky,

Sorry that you had to refer a friend to this board, but it is a good place for support and information. Reagarding your question:

The IHC test shows if there is too much HER-2 receptor protein in the cancer cells.
The FISH test shows if there are too many copies of the HER-2 gene in the cancer cells.

Only cancers that test IHC "3+" or FISH "positive" will respond well to therapy that works against HER-2. An IHC 2+ test result is called borderline.

You didn't mention your freind's size of tumor or node status. If your friend is node negative with a small tumor she will do well with the short treatment with the Herceptin. Herceptin usually isn't given to women who are weakly positive and only stage I. Also it's a good indicator that her cells are not aneuploid. Research has shown that only women who test IHC2+ will benefit from the use of Herceptin.