HER2+, ER+, PR+ and are taking Tamoxifen.

[beccarlw]

I Am Er+, Pr+, Her2+ Currently On Tamoxifen And Clinical Trial For Tykerb/lap/- I Was Given The Choice Of Lupron Injections, Or To Remove The Ovaries.....i Am Scheduled To Have The Surg. On 9/19/o7. Much Love, Hope Prayers And Peace, Becca

[ahooper]

At 36, diagnosed with ILC, triple positive. Had lumpectomy and complete hysterectomy, along with Tamoxifen and 1 year of Herceptin. After 3 years, I have metastases to the bone, so all of the above were apparently ineffective for me. On Tykerb now since June; not too pleased with the side effects.

[kat in the delta]

I just read something people are getting when Tamoxifen does not work...will look for it at HealthTalk.com and othe places. Look at Clinical Trials too and get several opinions.. Let me know how you are doing and feeling.... will do research for you................Keep in Touch,
Kat in the delta

[kat in the delta]

Are you getting Zometa for your Bones now ?? It is the newest Biophos. IV for your bones...... I was getting it every 3 mos....but now less often... Let me KNOW... What are the side effects you are getting from the Tykerb??? . Oncs don't seem to tell you all the BAD side effects you can be Left with..sometimes for a short time..and some for a Lifetime... I asked for and got a Large Binder of Info from the LIVESTRONG and it does tell you what Happens AFTER you get certain Chemos...I struggle with Chemo Brain, and Neuropathy... No one in my family WANTS to help me or try to UNDERSTAND and take me like I am NOW..... So What side effects are you getting from Tykerb and How did you find your Bone METs..... RSVP ---- Kat in the delta

[ahooper]

On my periodic visit to onc in April, I griped about some pain in my shoulder; immediate pet/ct. This showed a very suspicious black hole in the area, and open biopsy confirmed the met. My husband and I had been having some issues, and this whole round of tests just put him over the edge. On June 8, he took himself out with a .44 magnum revolver, so I've had to deal with a lot by myself.

Yes, I get Zometa (the osteoperosis drug) infusions once a month to strengthen the bones and help keep more rogue tumor cells from settling in. I have a hole in my shoulder blade that we hope will also fill in eventually. The Tkerb makes me tired and nauseaus, and I have a white rash over my face and on my back where I had radiation. Very unsightly, and I don't know how long it will last. Half the doc's job is to not freak you out, and they've all been stepping very lightly around me for a few months now. I know I'm suffering from "recently-widowed-with-incurable-cancer-and-about-to-be-40" brain. Short term memory is shot. (Pun!) So I make a lot of notes and take a lot of photos to keep myself up to date on my own life.

My family and friends have been AMAZING. They take so much better care of me than I ever did. There is someone assigned to every day of the week; my stepmother cleans for me on Mondays, my aunts cook for me Tuesedays and Thursdays, my brother mows the lawn Saturdays, and my girlfriend is assigned to getting me drunk every Friday!

Most people want to help, but don't know what to do, and you don't know what to ask from them. Just have the bossiest person in your family make a weekly schedule and hand it out! What's the worst that could happen? I feel like I've already seen it.

Hello,
first of all thank you to Joe, Christine and to all of you for this wonderful website which has helped me so much in the last two years.
I'm an Italian woman. My breast tumor was her-2 positive, ER+, ER-. I've decided to write to inform all the pre-menopausal women who are worried about taking tamoxifen that professor Aron Goldhirsch told me that there is no risk if Tamoxifen is associated to triptorelin (whose effect is the same as oopherectomy). I think you can trust Goldhirsch ... he is an excellent oncologist who works at the European Institute of Oncology, a hospital conceived and directed by Umberto Veronesi, the founder of breast conserving surgery. Goldhirsch also told me that when he is sure I've become menopausal I can switch to an AI.
Kisses and hugs to all of you!

I have pasted the abstract of the study he suggested me to read:

Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 21, Issue 3 (February), 2003: 453-457
© 2003 American Society for Clinical Oncology

HER-2/neu Overexpression and Response to Oophorectomy Plus Tamoxifen Adjuvant Therapy in Estrogen Receptor-Positive Premenopausal Women With Operable Breast Cancer
Richard R. Love, Nguyen Ba Duc, Thomas C. Havighurst, Syed K. Mohsin, Qian Zhang, David L. DeMets, D. Craig Allred

From the Departments of Medicine and Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; Hospital K, Hanoi, Vietnam; People’s Hospital of Haimen City, Haimen, Jiangsu, China; and Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.

Address reprint requests to Richard R. Love, 610 Walnut St. 256 WARF, Madison, WI 53726; email: rrlove@facstaff.wisc.edu.

Purpose: Studies evaluating the relationship of HER-2/neu breast tumor status and response to adjuvant endocrine therapy have reached conflicting conclusions about resistance of HER-2/neu-positive tumors to this treatment. We studied 282 patients participating in a randomized controlled trial of adjuvant oophorectomy and tamoxifen or observation who had estrogen receptor-positive tumors and whose tumors were evaluated for HER-2/neu overexpression by immunohistochemistry.

Patients and Methods: Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models and Kaplan-Meier disease-free and overall survival estimate methods were used.

Results: HER-2/neu overexpression was a negative prognostic factor for overall survival. In univariate analyses, in HER-2/neu-positive patients, the hazard ratio (HR) for disease-free survival (DFS) with adjuvant endocrine therapy was 0.37 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.26 to 0.89); for HER-2/neu-negative patients, the corresponding HR for DFS was 0.48 (95% CI, 0.31 to 0.71). The overall survival (OS) data were HR=0.26 (95% CI, 0.07 to 0.92) and HR=0.68 (95% CI, 0.32 to 1.42) for HER-2/neu-positive and HER-2/neu-negative patients, respectively. In multivariate models, the P values for tests of interaction of HER-2/neu status and response to adjuvant endocrine therapy were 0.18 and 0.07 for DFS and OS, respectively. Kaplan-Meier DFS and OS curves and 3-year DFS estimates were consistent in showing greater benefit to the HER-2/neu-positive subgroup given adjuvant treatment.

Conclusion: HER-2/neu overexpression does not adversely and may favorably influence response to adjuvant oophorectomy and tamoxifen treatment in patients with estrogen receptor–positive tumors.

[CindyE]

I am triple positive, premeno (until chemo), and will be starting Tamoxifen tomorrow. I am hoping that I can tolerate this drug threrapy along with my Herceptin.

[Lien]

Hi Cindy,

You'll probably do fine. Please remember that those who have no trouble with some kind of tx don't write. It's the ones who do struggle with side-effects that feel the need to send a note, rant, vent, or share.

Good luck!

Jacqueline

[WolverineFan]

I'm curious as to why this thread started up again, since it looks like the first time was about four years ago. I am ER+90%, PR+95%, and Her2+++. After finishing chemo, I began Femara, but stopped in early October and switched to Tamoxifin since I started my period. Just had a hysterectomy two days ago, and my onc wants to put me back on Femara. My understanding is that Femara is the best thing for her2+ women if you are in menopause. I was definitely premenopause before starting chemo, and then went into a chemically induced menopause due to the chemo. Just curious as to if there were recent developments on which is more effective. Thanks so much!

[Joanna J]

I am sort of confused abt this poll,Am I reading correctly,this poll is only for women taking Tamoxifen?
I thought that if a woman is ER- PR- that they CANNOT take anything like Tamoxifen? Hope I am not confusing anyone. looking for answers,Joanna J

[Trish]

I was pre-menopausal prior to diag in 2004. I didn't have Herceptin at that stage adjuvantly, unfortunately. After chemo I was put on Tamoxifen until I had oopherectomy mid 2006 so I could go on to Arimedex. Unfortunately mets were diag in Dec 2006 and have been on chemo pretty much continuously since then hence no anti hormonal. My onc said there was some research that suggests tamoxifen and chemo is counterproductive but not info re AI's. Am considering if an AI, Tykerb and Herceptin would be best for me. At present I am on Abraxane and am stable though TMs still high.
Trish