her2serum test results HELP

Princesswaffle · 08-09-2011, 11:58 PM

Hi,

I have a quick question for all you wonderful ladies! I want to give a little background before the question. I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer with one liver met, no node involvement 1 year ago and have been NED since Feb of this year. My doctor runs both tumor markers every three weeks which were both highly elevated when diagnosed. One was 600 and the other 1000. Now both are in the 11-14 range (since Feb) I also have a ctc test run every three weeks which is 0. I recently had a mastectomy on my left breast and the pathology was negative for DCIS and invasive cancer. I have pet and ct scans run every three months and the most recent yesterday which are all thankfully clear. I have also had multiple MRIs of my liver to monitor the original tumor which shows complete resolution.

I am currently on herceptin every three weeks, tomoxifin and lupron. I have also started taking tykerb as an added insurance policy, but a low dosage of two pills a day.

My question is that we run a her2serum test results very 6-10 weeks before I get my herceptin. The results of the test have always been in the range of 5-6.9. Now today my dr. Gave me results that were 32 which is more than 2x the normal range. My dr. Said she is not concerned since all labs and scans are normal. We will retest in two weeks. She said there could have been a lab mistake, the tube could have been read wrong, but it still scares me to think it went up so, so much in 8 weeks. I am so grateful for responding so well to treatment and I am finally feeling like I can breathe, but I still am genuinely concerned because this could indicate herceptin may not be working for me. Does anyone have any experience with this particular test or a situation similar to mine where results when retested were normal.

I appreciate any feedback!!

Princesswaffle · 08-10-2011, 02:49 PM

Just want to bump this up to see if there is anyone who could respond. Thanks!

Jackie07 · 08-10-2011, 06:09 PM

Hi,

Below is a sentence in the last paragraph of one of the abstracts cited in a recent thread

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/sho...ight=her2serum

regarding Her2 serum test:

“sHER2 as a surrogate maker to optimize the evaluation of the HER2 status of a primary tumor and as a prognosis and predictive marker of response to therapies, both in early and metastatic breast cancer.”
Hope this helps.

Princesswaffle · 08-10-2011, 09:36 PM

Thank you so much for the link! I very much appreciate it. I know that the test is a prognostic tool, but wanted to see if anyone has had a test that may have shown an elevated level, that could have been a reading error on the lab part or an error in the handling of the tube, that after retesting was back in the normal range. I am somewhat concerned since, but all my other markers and scans have shown NED, so I am not sure what else there is I can do even if levels continue to rise and it is not a lab mistake. At this point my doctor is ecstatic at my progress and feels that since I am monitored by blood work every three weeks that there is no cause for concern and she is leaning towards an error. I want to agree, but I also want to hear other people who have had similar experiences.

Thank you!