What does Her-2/neu negative mean?

I should know, but, I forget
I should know, but, I forget too. lol I think it means whether or not you can metabolize tamoxifen? I don't know.. I need to google it or go thru my oncologist's notes. Hopefully, someone here can tell you to save me time googlinggggggggggg! lol

Moopy23 said:

Her-2/Neu Negative
Hi, Noel, Herceptin works for cancers that are Her-2/Neu Positive. That's the treatment difference.

Herceptin and HER2
I was at the oncologist office today and the nurse and oncologist were saying that they are now using Herceptin for HER2 negative cancers as well. It has only been happening in the last couple of months because of studies they have done and got approval to use it on all HER2. I haven't researched it personally. I just did and could not find it on the internet so maybe next week when I go I will see if they have any information regarding this.

HER2- means that your gene is not an aggressive breast cancer type like the HER2+ which has an abundant amount of protein on this gene. HER2- does not carry this extra protein which causes aggressive type breast cancer.

I am not saying that aggressive type breast cancers are all HER2+ for there are many type of breast cancers out there.

Hopefully this helps some.
Margo

Kristin N said:

I guess I don't understand
I guess I don't understand that either. So, if you are Her2 negative, that is good? And, isn't herceptin a chemo drug? Or, is it one of the hormone therapy drugs? I looked on my pathology report and I am also Her2 negative. I am still in radiation treatments, so, I am not talking yet to my oncologist about what comes next. I wish nothing, but, I know that is probably being unrealistic. Thanks Margo for that info. It helped me to understand better.

Herceptin
Herceptin is not a chemo drug. It targets the protein that is on the HER2+ gene to kill the protein that caused this type of cancer.

Noel said:

Ok..thanks
I kind of get it now. lol I will do some more research on the www. You all are so helpful! You are amazing! I just got worried when I saw that on my pathology report and couldn't remember if it was important or not. I am going to blame it on RAD BRAIN! lol

hormone receptive
so then what does hormone receptive mean?

tami90650 said:

hormone receptive
so then what does hormone receptive mean?

Hormone receptive is when a
Hormone receptive is when a tumor is receptive to (feeds off of) certain hormones. So an estrogen receptive cancer is one that feeds off of estrogen, or uses it to grow. Tamoxifen acts by blocking breast cancer cells from using estrogen to form and grow. Aromatose inhibtors act by reducing the level of estrogen in the body.

Mimi

Noel said:

UHOH
So, HER-2/neu negative is really bad?

No!
HER-2/neu negative is not bad. In fact, it is usually considered really good. HER-2 positive cancers are generally more aggressive than those that are negative. Now, there is Herceptin to treat HER-2 positives, and it's been a life-saver. If you are negative, you don't have to worry about how to treat the overexpression of the HER-2 gene.

Mimi

Noel said:

Thank you Mimi. I am glad
Thank you Mimi. I am glad that for the people with HER-2 positive that Herceptin helps them. I know that my oncologist will help me to understand this, but, I won't see him for a few weeks. ( still in radiation ) Thanks again to everyone! I guess the unknown just scared me, but, all of you helped me!

This helped me too
I am also Her2 negative so this was important to read. So, I guess being negative is better than being positive? Although, I am Er and Pr positive

HER2-negative

HER2-negative breast cancer means tests show no abnormality in the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 gene. Normally present in breast tissue, HER2 receptors help control how breast cells grow and divide. When the gene stops functioning properly, breast cells begin to multiply in an uncontrolled way. 

Cancer cells that are HER2 negative may grow more slowly and are less likely to recur (come back) or spread to other parts of the body than cancer cells that have a large amount of HER2 on their surface.