Newly diagnosed and confused

[CherylS]

Hi, and welcome to the board. You will, as have I, find this to be one of your most helpful resources. This board is very professionally administered and the women here are knowledgeable, experienced and caring.

It is a little confusing that you already know your ER, PR, HER2 status and grade yet don't feel you have the results of your pathology. These are the most common components, although there are others too. It is all so confusing at first, isn't it? Maybe it is the pathology on those lymph nodes you are waiting for and a final staging report (State I, II, III,IV).

First, let me say, and others will add much more to this, that the high positivity of your ER/PR status is a very good thing. This opens you up to treatment with very effective hormone treatment therapy. Which you have, Tamoxifen or an Aromatase Inhibitor will depend on whether you are pre or post menopausal. Her2/Neu, which does make for a generally more aggressive cancer is considered by some now to be a more favorable diagnosis because of the addition of Herceptin to the arsenal. You will have to undergo chemo, but that is not as scary as it sounds. Trust me, I was terrified. But now looking back it just wasn't so bad. I finished chemo last August and remained on Herceptin for one year. I am NED (no evidence of disease). Being able to combine Herceptin with a Taxane based chemo is a very potent defense against Her2 + breast cancer. Grade 3 is the highest grade, but almost all breast cancers are grade 3. Your oncologist will do a bone scan and a chest x-ray as baselines to be sure you are clear of other sites.

Statistics that you are probably reading are at best old. The most up to date resources for you will come from the clinical trials that have recently been completed on use of Herceptin. May someone could post linnks to some good articles for her?

God Bless You. Hang in there. We are here for you.