[Becky]

I did a lot of research prior to surgery and waiting for my pathology results. I already knew the tumor was a Stage 1 size and my nodes weren't palpable. I told my husband I could take anything but I sure hoped I wasn't Her2neu. I felt confident I wasn't since it is only 20% of the people. When I was diagnosed, there was no adjuvant Herceptin (I got it 4 months after my last chemo due to good timing of the trial results). However, I was involved with this group for a long time. I did one of the Young Survival Coilition booth shows (when I met Love & Light Lisa). At that show, I met dozens of Her2+ women who were 3, 5, 8+ year survivors who were Her2 and did not get Herceptin - for some, the trial wasn't even begun. Randy Rosenberg, past President of the YSC and on their board of directors is 10+ years and is Her2 - never recurred! The thing we all have to remember is more do not recur than do. It is not a death sentence, even without Herceptin. It just recurs more often than the ER+/PR+ type. My first onc said about twice as much. So, when you look at statistics (many are 5 or 10 year survival stats - prior to Herceptin, prior to dense dose and in the 10 year case - even 6 yrs - prior to taxanes), he said if it says 85% that it is 75% for a Her2+. If one says that Herceptin reduces recurrence by 50% that means that a Her2+ person is now at 87.5% - better than ER+/PR+. And what does that mean with taxanes, dense dose, lifestyle studies etc.

It seems scary but cancer is scary - no matter what kind of bc you have but at least all the researchers just love our little ole Her2 receptor. That's fine with me.