Jen, --First, welcome to the site. As far as "seasoned pro's" go, I guess I will have to do...smile. BC since '97/Herceptin alone since '99.
Question #1 regarding "the efficacy of hormonal treatment for HER2+ patients." Like so many other things in this field which STILL really is more of an "fine art" than a "true science"-- the answer is, "it ALL DEPENDS"...smile. As you read through these boards, you will often see those of us who post mention that we are ER/PR negative or positive and Her-2 (1+,2+, or 3+) and give other notations such as "mets since '99" or Stage 3B, etc. So in order to better answer this question for you personally, we need to know what you are? For example, I am PR/ER Negative and Her-2 3+. In my case, Tamoxifen and some of the newer more exciting hormonal treatments are of absolutely NO BENEFIT whatsoever to me, personally. However, if you are either ER positive (estrogen receptor) or PR positive (progesterone positve) or both (ER+/PR+) and have some measure of her-2, hormonal treatments in conjunction with herceptin could indeed be efficacious for YOU. What makes the "her-2" DX more scary is that before Herceptin, these tumors were VERY AGRESSIVE and a primary DX with Her-2 involvement many times eventually progressed to STAGE IV mets unbelievably quickly, and then, sadly in many cases, the end result was death. The ER/PR negative her-2 tumors (hormonal negative) were especially frightening as before Herceptin, there was not a whole lot that the oncology community could throw at these highly aggressive, deadly tumors, since the hormonals were not working. Fortunately, the invention of Herceptin by Dr. Dennis Slamon has changed all that. Now, even women like me, who before had a truly dismal prognosis, can lead almost normal lives, although we remain tetthered to Herceptin, dragging our weekly, bi-weekly, tri-weekly or creative dosing infusions behind us...smile. Sometimes having her-2 makes me feel like an astronaut exploring a new planet, or a deep-sea diver, exploring the uncharted reaches of the ocean's floor, both--dragging our oxygen behind us...smile.
Now, as for the Pi3K test, I always advise anybody with this disease to find out AS MUCH ABOUT the specifics of the kind they have as possible, so keep pushing for the test, but do not be dismayed if you never get access to it for now. Also, keep in mind, just from what I have been reading, that it may not really be so black and white, AKA that if you do "have the inhibitor you "won't respond" --NONSENSE, given the incredible track record Herceptin has left in its wake, all other things being equal, for Pete's sake GIVE IT A GO!!! if you have her-2. I also read that diet MAY be able to influence these inhibitors --literally turning them on and off at will, so you see, even if you test that you have the inhibitor one time, it is NO GUARANTEE that you will always have it in the "on" position, every time. Proteomics is a VERY complex new science and the inner -workings of each INDIVIDUAL cell even moreso, and it does not simplify matters that we have trillions of them all talking at the same time...sigh...smile.
As to your 3rd question about the vaccine trials, I will defer to Eric, Michelle and others who have direct experience with them as I am following a different protocol, but a lot of folks on this site are on the cutting edge with these vaccines and it will be interesting to see how they play out. Overall, as sad as we all are that your are newly DX, I think most of us would agree that you literally couldn't be coming into this area at a better, more exciting time as far as advancement in research is concerned. Best of luck to you, Gina
GPOPP@Comcast.net
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