Interesting research....I wonder...

[Jean]

how does this impact on us er+/pr- gals?
If at all....okay my propeller headed sisters..your thoughts.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/214159.php

[Jackie07]

Jean,

The article states: "...both estrogen and progesterone must be present for the increased production of the protein amphiregulin, which binds to mammary cells and promotes cell growth, could lead to new treatment methods for the disease..."

The combination of the two hormones influences the cell growth. Whether or not the cells become ER+ or PR+ or both, in my understanding, is another matter. I am guessing that since both hormones are present in our body all the time, the extra hormones (of either kind) we received from all kind of sources ('contaminated' milk product, infertility treatment, birth control pills,...) 'stimulates' the cells and triggers the mechanism of proliferation.

[Becky]

I think ER+PR- disease is a totally different beast than ER+PR+ disease. Then, you are adding the Her2 into the mix which this article does not. This article is adding EGFR (aka Her1) into the mix.

It is an article, in my opinion, that may have been somewhat misquoted (as many articles can be unless you get the actual abstract).

I think what this article is trying to say (just me thinking out loud here), is that most women are ER+PR+ (but not Her2+). Many of these women do very, very well but some do very poorly. This may be because these women are also Her1+ (this is not tested for yet). In general, there is some interaction between PR and Her1 that is initiated by this protein that is only present if you are ER+PR+. So, you have this protein and if you are Her1+ too - BINGO!

That's kind of how I read it. If PR neg, this can't happen. Oddly though, being PR neg does tend to make scientists wonder, then some Her family must be positive - in our case Her2. Even in triple negative cancer, something is driving that cancer. For these women, some might be Her1+ or Her3+ or IGFR+ or something not known or understood.

We know all bc in each of us is different, even if we have the exact same pathology since our genetic makeups are unique to us and so too, our cancer.

[Joan M]

My breast, lung and brain tumors tested ER-/PR-, but an inadvertent EGFR test on my initial lung tumor removed by video-assisted thoracic surgery tested high for HER1. That test was mistakenly conducted (I think I was being mistaken by the lab as a lung cancer patient), and when the tumor was retested for HER2 it was positive. So for at least the lung tumor, EGFR was very high. My brain tumor was HER2-.