HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - for Jean and others trying to figure out the importance of ER+PR- status

Becky · 04-22-2008, 11:19 AM

Saw this paper with Jean at SABCS in December. What it really means is that most ER+/PR+ tumors are just that and most ER-/PR- tumors are just that but many ER+/PR- tumors may actually look molecularly like ER+/PR+ or ER-/PR-. Then, there are those that look different from both and are the true ER+/PR- and they behave differently from the true positives and true negatives.

This is also partially why anti-hormonals work well for some ER+/PR- and not others (because some actually look like ER+/PR+ and others act like ER-/PR-).

In this paper, they also implied that at least with ER+PR- tumors, the Her family was involved but they did not test for Her2 (which they implied was involved much of the time and if it wasn't, then Her1 (aka EGFR) was involved).

It was interesting to say the least.

04-22-2008, 11:19 AM	#3
Becky Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Stockton, NJ Posts: 4,179	Saw this paper with Jean at SABCS in December. What it really means is that most ER+/PR+ tumors are just that and most ER-/PR- tumors are just that but many ER+/PR- tumors may actually look molecularly like ER+/PR+ or ER-/PR-. Then, there are those that look different from both and are the true ER+/PR- and they behave differently from the true positives and true negatives. This is also partially why anti-hormonals work well for some ER+/PR- and not others (because some actually look like ER+/PR+ and others act like ER-/PR-). In this paper, they also implied that at least with ER+PR- tumors, the Her family was involved but they did not test for Her2 (which they implied was involved much of the time and if it wasn't, then Her1 (aka EGFR) was involved). It was interesting to say the least. __________________ Kind regards Becky Found lump via BSE Diagnosed 8/04 at age 45 1.9cm tumor, ER+PR-, Her2 3+(rt side) 2 micromets to sentinel node Stage 2A left 3mm DCIS - low grade ER+PR+Her2 neg lumpectomies 9/7/04 4DD AC followed by 4 DD taxol Used Leukine instead of Neulasta 35 rads on right side only 4/05 started Tamoxifen Started Herceptin 4 months after last Taxol due to trial results and 2005 ASCO meeting & recommendations Oophorectomy 8/05 Started Arimidex 9/05 Finished Herceptin (16 months) 9/06 Arimidex Only Prolia every 6 months for osteopenia NED 18 years! Said Christopher Robin to Pooh: "You must remember this: You're braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think"