Hi:
I am/was a "late" herceptin starter.
My original Her2 test was IHC, done at a local hospital, over two years ago. At that time, the result was 3+ Her 2 and I have always considered myself Her2 +. After my original diagnosis of Stage II, neg. node IDC, I changed hospitals and received my treatment at a large cancer center.
This spring I decided to start adjuvent Herceptin for a year. After reading the posts at this helpful website and looking at my other tumor factors, I realized I am a somewhat unusual Her2 positive patient. Being a medical technologist, I requested a FISH test, just to be "sure."
Surprise! I am FISH NEGATIVE! FISH is the more accurate test. I am NOT a candidate for Herceptin. While waiting for the results of the FISH test, I did receive three Herceptin infusions--but now I will stop.
There are false positives (or human error) with the IHC test. The IHC test is a more subjective test than the FISH test.
Even if you are 3+ IHC, I would suggest getting a FISH test to confirm your diagnosis. Many more patients will be getting Herceptin for adjuvent therapy. I hope they all receive a FISH test.
This website has some interesting discusions about IHC vs FISH:
http://www.herceptin.com/herceptin/p..._about/ihc.htm
Good luck to everyone...you have been a wonderful source of information.
Linda
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