breast cancer her2

Her2 and Herceptin
Denny... I am sorry cancer has invaded your life. It can be a wild roller coaster ride, but you are not alone. We know what you are going through and you came to a very good place for support and information.

How scary to hear the two lumpectomies you had didn't get all the tumors in your breast. If you hadn't of had the mastectomy... sure makes you wonder. Your gut instinct to go with a mastectomy was right on.

Just so that you know, I was HER2 positive and took Herceptin for a year. Infusions were every 3 weeks. I'll be honest, I was floored when I heard I'd have to have infusions for a whole year, but I got through it. I had support and, you know, the year went by quickly. I also made some wonderful friends as a result of this situation. I am not trying to downsize the situation as this is a very serious matter.

From what I understand, Her2 is a very aggressive form of breast cancer. Herceptin is a miracle drug that was developed for this type of cancer. I would highly suggest you talk with your oncologist about your situation.

Best of luck with your journey.
BL

Bella Luna said:

Her2 and Herceptin
Denny... I am sorry cancer has invaded your life. It can be a wild roller coaster ride, but you are not alone. We know what you are going through and you came to a very good place for support and information.

How scary to hear the two lumpectomies you had didn't get all the tumors in your breast. If you hadn't of had the mastectomy... sure makes you wonder. Your gut instinct to go with a mastectomy was right on.

Just so that you know, I was HER2 positive and took Herceptin for a year. Infusions were every 3 weeks. I'll be honest, I was floored when I heard I'd have to have infusions for a whole year, but I got through it. I had support and, you know, the year went by quickly. I also made some wonderful friends as a result of this situation. I am not trying to downsize the situation as this is a very serious matter.

From what I understand, Her2 is a very aggressive form of breast cancer. Herceptin is a miracle drug that was developed for this type of cancer. I would highly suggest you talk with your oncologist about your situation.

Best of luck with your journey.
BL

Denny
Her2 is a very aggressive breast cancer and Herceptin is a miracle drug that targets the Her2 gene so it will not spread to other parts.

I had chemo(for 4 months) and the Herceptin(1 yr) and like Bella I also highly suggest you talk with your oncologist if your path report came out to state that you were Her2 positive.

Margo

Hi there
I was in a similar situation.

IDC, stage 2,Her+. Had 2 lumpectomies, didn't get clear margins
the first time around.

And like you I opted for a mastectomy instead of radiation. I did
do the chemo however. I did Taxotere and carbo for 5 months and
Herceptin for a year.

HER+ is an aggressive cancer and Herceptin has been proven to
be quiet effective. I didn't want to think back and have regrets. So
I chose to do chemo.

It's a very personal choice, the course of treatment. Do what gives
you peace of mind, I would say.

Hugs,
Ayse

aysemari said:

Hi there
I was in a similar situation.

IDC, stage 2,Her+. Had 2 lumpectomies, didn't get clear margins
the first time around.

And like you I opted for a mastectomy instead of radiation. I did
do the chemo however. I did Taxotere and carbo for 5 months and
Herceptin for a year.

HER+ is an aggressive cancer and Herceptin has been proven to
be quiet effective. I didn't want to think back and have regrets. So
I chose to do chemo.

It's a very personal choice, the course of treatment. Do what gives
you peace of mind, I would say.

Hugs,
Ayse

Herceptin
I too am Her2+. When I started on my cancer journey I was talking to a friend I knew had also had treatment. She told me she was in the research study for herceptin ... and before the study was completed they were getting such amazing results from it that they started giving everyone herceptin. It was that effective!

So... when my oncologist told me I needed herceptin ... I didn't give it a second thought. I never had any side effects ... and as someone else said ... the infusion center where I went was terrific ... and the staff was wonderful.

Maybe you should talk to your oncologist again. One more suggestion ... if you do change your mind and take herceptin ... you might also consider have a port installed. I almost said "NO!!!" to chemo ... because I'm such a chicken with needles ... but then the oncologist told me about the port. It makes it so easy. No poking an prodding and looking for veins in your arms. One tiny little prick in the exact spot every time ... and that's it. I can't believe I did it ... but I did.

good luck with whatever you decide.

hugs.
teena

Cancer is very, very sneaky. 

Cancer is very, very sneaky.  My opinion is that, if your oncologist encouraged chemo (at least herceptin), and you refuse therapy, you will not "rid" yourself of cancer. 

I give this opinion as one who had cancer recur after an 18 year remission.  Chemo is not as bad as 231 cancerous liver lesions, bone and lung breast metastases.  I am now on herceptin/perjeta for life (or until it quits working).  Finished taxotere in August.

I won't lie and say the side effects aren't tough, but cancer is a lot tougher.  And my cancer is her2neu positive also - a cancer that tends to be fairly treatable with treatment, but very aggressive without.

Everyone has different goals and plans for themselves and no one can tell you what to do.  I wish you the very best and pray you don't face my situation in the future.  (((Hugs))).

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-treating-by-stage

her2

In 2008, I had my a mastectomy, that cancer, IDC stage 1B, was Her2 neg.  Anyway, Oct 2012 I had a breast cancer recurrence in the chest wall where i had had the mx. IDC Stage IV, HER2 positive. I had 9 chemo treatments, every 3rd week they also used perjeta and herceptin. Had pet scan a few weeks ago, that came back good so I now take arimidex and still go in every three weeks for the herceptin and perjeta.  Just because you have a mx does not mean the cancer can't or won't come back.  Oh and mine is estrogen positive also.  I follow the advice of my onco, she is the expert in this fight and she gives me the ammo I need to stand a fighting chance in this war.  But, you must do what you are comfortable with.  There's a lot of good advice on this site too.  Good luck to you.

suecbeach said:

Had my first infustion

Had my first infustion today-- herceptin and taxatere.   What sort of side effects have any of you experienced??   Would like to know the possiblilites which of course the nurses walked me through ALL of them today which sounded awful---but would like to know from "real people" what they actually had.    Thanks in advance.  

Am I understanding your post?

Did you make this decision to forego Herceptin and chemotherapy a year ago? Did you have 2 lumps removed first and then a third 1.7 cm tumor found on pathology after mastectomy?   And now you want to stop going to follow-up visits?  

As others have mentioned, HER-2+ breast cancer is pretty aggressive which is why chemotherapy is typically done as well as targeted therapy (Herceptin).  Just because your local area is still clear doesn't mean the cancer won't recur there or elsewhere in your body.   Of course, scans and follow-up visits will not prevent that, but they can hopefully catch recurrences when small and more likely to respond to treatment.  I had early stage ER+ cancer (HER-2 negative) and I sometimes wonder if I was overtreated with chemotherapy, but genomic testing showed a high recurrence score so chemo was recommended and I agreed.  Even with chemotherapy, I suppose it could come back, but I feel very safe now.  That was 3 1/2 yers ago.  I have permanent hair loss from Taxotere, but I still would have agreed to the treatment - even if I knew that. 

All that being said, I have a very good friend who was HER-2+ and refused chemotherapy and was not offered Herceptin at the time of diagnosis because it wasn't offered as first line treatment then.  That was 8 years ago.  She had a lumpectomy and radiation.  No chemo, no Herceptin and she's fine.  And she feels very very lucky.  She was also ER+ and took Arimidex for 7 years.

No matter what our cancer type, we all have a 0 or 100% chance of it coming back - it either will or it won't.  We don't know whether we're in the group of women who never see a recurrence or the group who will and this is why we try to "mop up" anything that might have avoided the surgery by radiation, chemotherapy or targeted therapy.    It always remains our right to make our own treatment decisions, along with the risks that come with that decision.  My decision to have radiation and chemotherapy had risks, your decision to refuse adjuvunct therapy also has risks.

Good luck. Our lives change significantly once we receive a cancer diagnosis.   

Suzanne