I have just recently being told i am ER- but Her2 +. So basically I can’t have Tamoxifen as it wont benefit me but i can have Herceptin. I am really confused. I have read that ER- responds better to chemo yet it doesnt respond to hormone therapies.But i’m having Hreceptin! I am totally mixed up that fact i am a mixture of the two.
Please can someone enlighten me…
anyone?..maybe its a odd combination…
Hello,
Sorry you have to be here on these forums. I don’t have the same diagnosis as you, but hopefully I can shed some light on your situation. The forums are a bit difficult at the moment, but I’m sure someone with your diagnosis will be along some time.
Your cancer is negative to the hormone oestrogen - ie oestrogen is not helping your tumour to grow, so there is no point in having tamoxifen which reduces the amount of the oestrogen in your body. However you are positive to a protein called HER2 which can be treated with herceptin. This is usually administered every three weeks for a year often staring part way through a course of chemotherapy.
Tumours can be positive or negative to oestrogen, progesterone or HER2. This can be in any combination. If you are negative to all three then this is often described as triple negative. These tumours are probably positive to something as yet undiscovered. A few years ago there was no herceptin treatment for your diagnosis.
There is lots of information about different diagnoses etc on this site. You can also contact your BCN and ask her to explain your disgnosis and treatment to you.
Things will get easier as your treatment plan unfolds. It’s a long haul, but take each day and stage at a time and you will get there and out the other side.
Best wishes.
Hi KB,
I do have the same mix as you :). I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1990 when Her2 and herceptin were not known about and my breast cancer kept on coming back! That was the problem back then - not knowing about it! because it is a very aggressive form of bc. After several recurrences and then got secondaries in 2002. It wasn’t until the beginning of 2004 when a lot of my lymph nodes kept coming up that someone thought to check the tissue from the last mastectomy I had had around 1999. It had been tested for her2 and was positive so I was put straight onto herceptin - and as they say the rest is history. My bc has been pretty well stable since then. I think it is unusual to have such a clear indication that it works because many of you today if tested and found to be her2 positive are put on herceptin. You will only know if it doesn’t work for you, because it will come back.
It wont be long before we will be able to start putting other letters after our names LOL. They are now testing to see if people are androgen receptor positive because there is another drug like herceptin called abiraterone that can be used. Like herceptin the side effects are far fewer than those with chemo.
If you want to ask anything else I will be happy to answer if I can.
Dawn
xx
Thank you Dancing Girl, that was very kind of you to respond. I really appreciate it.
I do feel very fortunate that I am having Herceptin as it’s supposed to be a wonder drug from what I’ve heard. I also guess that i’m fortunate that it isn’t triple negative as there is no treatment for that what so ever…only chemo. So my heart goes out to those people.
I just can’t seem to find any positive feedback on ER- breast cancer.The only good thing about it, is that it is supposed to respond well to chemo.
Since discovering that i was ER- it’s really stressing me out.
Karen x
Hi KB,
Yes, I have the same diagnosis as you. ER- PR- Her2 +. For chemo I had four treatments of AC followed by four of Taxol. When I started Taxol I also started Herceptin. Taxol is finished but Herceptin will carry on for me - indefinitely as I had secondaries diagnosed within a few weeks of my breast cancer diagnosis.
Chemotherapy dealt with my tumours incredibly well, and I am pleased to say that I seem to find Herceptin easy to tolerate, so far.
Herceptin is a targeted treatment, but not a hormone treatment,(so far as I understand it) whereas Tamoxifen, for example, is a hormone treatment.
Does this help? Is there anything else you would like to know? I cannot be sure that I will have the answer, but I will help if I can.
Verity.
Thank you also to Dawn and Verity…sorry i didnt see your replies, this site does some weird things.
Well, i am getting somewhere…thank goodness i am not the only one as i was starting to feel a bit isolated…
K xx
Glad to help. I wouldn’t worry too much about the ER- aspect, just focus on the positive fact that Herceptin is around! My oncologist says she almost does a little dance when a patient’s results show HER2+ status because Herceptin is such an effective drug. I do hope so…
Take care.
V x
I am currently on FEC then having Tax, followed by Herceptin for a year, as far as i’m aware…ill be having herceptin it for a year…x
sorry, i am repeating myself…first sign of madness lol
Lol Verity…you seem to have a lovely Onc, i dont like mine, as he didn’t make me feel positive at all. I am thinking of changing mine. x
I do think that a positive attitude should be a prerequisite for being an oncologist! Mine is truly wonderful - a very upbeat and pragmatic lady. I am sure it has helped me. My surgeon was the same - although male.
I hope you find someone more to your liking, if you do decide to change.
x
i am going to enquire about changing my onc…defo…and i know there is a female one that i can go and see. im sure females are more understanding tbh…xx
Thank you ladies…Its great that there are more of you popping up on this thread. Im so so glad is isnt just me. Having read many articles about the fact that er- is a poor prognosis and its really is scary. xx
Have no idea! I assume I am ER + as I have been prescribed Tamoxifen - don’t even have an idea of what type of cancer I had!!!