Clarification

Pammy46

Hi all
just need some clarification on something the specialist said last week
my surgery is this Thursday and as they are taking 2 tumours out I am Her2. - on both however she said all treatment going ahead as planned unless the Her2 changes to positive ? 
Im confused on how this can happen??

Afraser

Hi there, good luck with your operation. I am not sure what the implications are apart from the fact that my Her2 negative tumour nevertheless gave rise to a positive lymph gland. In short, Her2 can shift. But I would not have thought it could shift when already diagnosed so good question for your specialist! On the positive side treatment for Her2 positive cancer can be very effective. I am now more than 4 years out from diagnosis, well and enjoying life. Best wishes to you. 

primek

My biopsy showed a grade 2 Es+Her2+ tumor. But my final pathology (5 weeks later) was a grade 3. I am assuming that what they mean is when they retest the removed sample . ..they redo all of it...and just check once again which type  of cancer it is. The  final result, with more tumour to test might be different from the biopsy. Unlikely but possible. Hope this helps. Kath.

Afraser

fyi
Research has shown that some breast cancers that are HER2-positive can become HER2-negative over time. Likewise, a HER2-negative breast cancer can become HER2-positive over time. If the breast cancer comes back in the future as advanced disease, doctors should consider ordering another biopsy and retest the tissue’s HER2 status.

Kathy_BCNA

Hi Pammy
This is Kathy from BCNA's Policy Team. Sorry to hear you have been recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer doesn't generally change from HER2- to HER2+. However as primek said, sometimes the diagnosis may change  when the pathologist tests the tumour after the breast cancer surgery. The results may be different from the biopsy results as the biopsy only samples a very small number of cells. It doesn't mean the cancer has changed, just that there weren't a lot of the HER2+ cells in the biopsy sample.
As Afraser said, sometimes when breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it may have a different pathology to the early breast cancer - HER2+ instead of HER2-, or ER- when the early breast cancer was ER+. But this is not your situation.
Let us know if you have any other queries. All the best with your treatment. The women here will be a great support to you. So will a breast care nurse, so if you haven't seen one you should ask your doctor to organise that or call us on 1800 500 258 and we can help connect you to one in your area.
Kathy

Pammy46

Ok thank you ladies how long after surgery do the testing of tumour and lymph nodes normally take to come back? 

Afraser

I was a private patient and I had them back in about a week.

socoda

Mine took two weeks but had a mastectomy so they had the whole breast to go through and four nodes. 

iserbrown

I was a private patient and my results were back in 48 hours

primek

10 days fir them to complete the full testing normally as thete are a number of diffetent processes and ways of testing to ensure correctly diagnosed.

Pammy46

Ok thanks ladies more waiting!!