HER2+

Public Archive
1

Hi i’ve read various posts on the forums which say having HER2+ is not good. What does it mean exactly? Is prognosis poor even if herceptin is used?
Reading this different info has made me worried and i’m trying to find out as much info possible!

2

Hi, I had my 6th herceptin at home this morning and was talking to the nurse about how a few years ago Herceptin was the wonder drug but it was postcode lottery back then as to whether a person would be able to get it in their area. He went on to say that prior to Herceptin people who were HER2+ had a worse outlook than those who were negative, BUT that Herceptin is so good that now it is better to be HER2+! I hope that reassures you a little.

3

Hi Jen

I am currently half way through my Herceptin treatment following surgery, chemo and rads. I had it explained to me as this, ‘the Her2 positive part of the tumour is more aggressive, hence the use of Herceptin. The effect of the Herceptin effectively switches off the on switch of the Her2 element’.I feel very lucky to have had my bc diagnosed early and also that Herceptin is now used for Primary Cancers. I am back at work (went back 5 weeks after rads finished and am coping well). It is great to see the light at the end of the tunnel and see the ‘new me’ emerging. Good luck to you with your treatment. J.

4

Jen

I hope I can reassure you a bit. I was diagnosed April 2007, grade 3, ER,PR,HER all positive. I had WLE, chemo, rads, Herceptin and I’m still on Aromasin. I have just had all the results of my 4 year checks and scans and I am fine! Herceptin was only licensed for primary cancer about a year before I started it so I feel I was very fortunate that I was able to have it.

All the best
Anne

5

I’m HER2+ and will be starting herceptin in the next month or so I think. From what I read, the other posters are quite right - it makes this sort of breast cancer as treatable as any other main sort. Basically takes standard odds of success up from 8 out of 10 to 9 out of 10 I think (though of course every case is a little different and only the person’s team can give the most accurate forecasts).
Ann x

6

I freaked out when oncy told me I was HER2+ - but he reassured me (and I believe him as he is very straight-talking and usually quite negative!) that it is a good thing to have more drugs to throw at this and that it works really well with TAX (which I’m having). He said at the very least the Herceptin cancels out the aggressiveness of the HER2+++.

I’ve had 3 lots of Herceptin so far and it’s a doddle.

7

Hi Jen

I thought you may find the BCC ‘Herceptin’ publication useful to read, you can read, download or order a copy here:

breastcancercare.org.uk/healthcare-professionals/publications/treatment-and-side-effects/*/changeTemplate/PublicationDisplay/publicationId/123/

Best wishes
Lucy

8

Oh how I wish that herceptin had been discovered earlier. I was dx with bc in 1990 and went through so many recurrences, chemos, rads, surgeries, and then in 2002 secondaries. Another couple of chemos later and the cancer returning each time they finished my onc thought to check my her2 status with tissue from the last surgery. It was her2+++ and I was straight onto herceptin and have been stable pretty well since then until last year when they found a tumour growing alongside mhy spine. I have no doubt at all that were it not for herceptin that too would have got out of hand. So yes, as other posters are saying, before herceptin, her2+++ was a very bad prognosis. Now if you are her2 positive and have herceptin with primary bc it gives you a fighting chance. But do remember that there is a small number for whom it is not the complete solution.

Dawn
xx

9

Hi all, I was diagnosed Her2+ and that was nearly 5 years ago now. I was diagnosed just as Herceptin became freely available for women with early stage BC. Had it not been available we would have risked mortgaging the house to pay for it. I reach the end of my remission in the autumn of this year, so fingers crossed. I’m fit and well, have managed to retrain and I run a business from home, plus I have a couple of other small ventures going on in the background. I also go to the gym 3 times a week and take a 90 min yoga class on Sundays. Oh, and just for good measure I celebrated my 25th anniversary and my 50th birthday this year. I don’t really think too much about my diagnosis now, but I do feel sad that it took cancer to give me a kick up the backside because prior to all this I’d lost my way a bit in life.