[Lani]

I wouldn't call myself loyal to Max Wicha--to be loyal i would think one would have to have some kind of relationship with him, which I don't...just admire his research, his open inquisitive mind and his persistence when going "against the grain" when his peers scoff and dismiss his research. I felt the same way about Judah Folkmann( whom I was fortunate to have asked a few questions of), who was the father of "angiogenesis" research, ridiculed for years, but whose research culminated in treatments such as Avastin, sutent and others. Judah Folkmann was also a kind, kind soul and caring physician par excellence--you could just tell from his lectures (many are on YouTube)

Of course the article is of interest to those previously considered unlikely to benefit from herceptin, the her2- or low group.

I think you are dismissing the importance of this research to those who are her2+ as well. Why should those her2+ stem cells in the bone marrow be the source of recurrence of her2+ breast cancer as well?

If we don't look (ie do biopsies and aspirations) we will never find out

I think the point of the article is that we should not exclusively look at the characteristics(ER, her2 etc) of the tumor in the breast to decide how to treat as it may be the characteristics of the stem cells in the marrow which drive recurrence/metastasis, and that, of course, is what kills people.