[AlaskaAngel]

It is basically a question about you, and how you feel about it. Those for whom uncertainty is most difficult tend to opt for full treatment. My understanding is that MD Anderson favors treatment for the majority of that group with whatever long-term side effects and other illnesses are a risk due to treatment, in favor of adequately treating the tiny group that can benefit from it. The oncology community has differing opinions about it, in part because there is uncertainty about whether the addition of trastuzumab prevents recurrence or only delays it, and the question of how that applies if one does only trastuzumab and not the chemo. At this point doing trastuzumab alone for adjuvant treatment is in trials for those who are older than 70, and we don't know for sure what results there would be for doing trastuzumab alone as adjuvant treatment for those with a low or no tumor burden plus an intact immune system, as opposed to giving it with chemo to non-adjuvant patients whose immune system has been/is compromised.

Those who tend to want to do it whether it helps some or not will choose the recommendation to do it, and those who tend to want not to do it will choose the recommendation not to do it whether it helps some or not.

A.A.