['lizbeth]

Oh how quickly we forget the mush mindness of the chemo haze . . . sorry.

In this study, the women who were Her2 and didn't receive Herceptin only had a disease free rate of 2/3s in the first 3 years. When Herceptin was added the number of women who were disease free three years later was 89.6 of 100.

What this means is that 33 women would recur after chemo. Add Herceptin and only 10 of 100 will have a recurrence.

The median duration of follow-up was 36 months (range, 12–111 months). The 3-DFS rates in the HER2-negative group, the HER2-positive group who received trastuzumab treatment, and the HER2-positive group who did not receive trastuzumab treatment were 82.6%, 89.6%, and 67.0%, respectively. The 3-DFS rate for the total study population was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Further analysis indicated a statistically significant difference in 3-DFS between either of the first two groups and the third group (P < 0.01), but the difference between the first two groups was not statistically significant (P = 0.157). Among the three groups, the 3-DFS rates during 2002–2006 did not have a significant difference compared with that during 2007–2010.

I think you might feel there is a larger risk than exists with Er- Pr- Her2+++. The US study showed 50% reduction which means 16 out of 100 would recur in three years, instead of the Chinese study's 10 of 100.

You had a more favorable pathology if I remember - and I would suspect your chance of recurrence is even lower.

Now the better news, with Er- Pr- most recurrences are within the first two years. Which is why I liked being Er- PR-. I didn't find that alarming at all.

So going with the two study numbers - you are most likely to be in the group of 84 to 90 women who remain NED in the first 3 years.

Now, do you feel better?

I think we lost Linn65, she's probably on a date with George Clooney.

PS. My number aren't exact, but should be in the ball park, and anyone feel free to clarify if you understand statistics better.