what dose stronge positive HER2 mean

sam1

Hi so glad to have found this site, I had BC ten years ago, I have just been told that it is back on same breast. Now I am waiting for the full Pathology report will not get that till Tue next week.

So I have been looking over my last Pathology report from ten years ago, and need some explanation what Stronge Positive Her2 means.

Thank you all

Mountains1day

What I have learned is....there is a copying ratio measured in the FISH testing method that measures how quickly the Her 2 cells are turning over.  Higher the ratio = higher copying rate = stronger    I have not found any answers as to the significance of what that means exactly in terms of treatment and/or recurrence/survival rates.  It would be interesting to know.  Anyone?

sam1

Well what you have just told me, is more than I knew before so thanks for that, it all helps with the big picture.I have been told that I will have to have the left breast removed which is just taking up all my head space right now. I am self emplyed and a massage therapist and from what I have read on this site the recovery from that operation is painfull and long.

InTwoPlaces

Sam,

My onc told me that the "normal" FISH scores for positive HER2 is between 3- 6. Mine was 18.3 and he told me he hadn't seen scores that high before.

I don't really know how it's related to recurrence, only it's a measure about how quick they grow.

I hope it's also an indication on how well it respond to Herceptin!

KakaCathFreeSpirit

Hello ladies, I am glad to see this conversation in progress. This topic is a question apart of what we all have felt or asked on that awful day we where told we had this insidious HER2-2/neu IDC breast cancer with the why, when, and how it came to be ! As most of us would of found this HER2, C-erb B2 bio markers after surgery, just when you think it cant get any worse, then it does. This question is usually answered on our histopathology report, now that I know, and is for those of us seeking how active the copy rate of the tumor was, basically what I wanted to know was how long I had it for and the time it took to get from A to B. By adding the ( nuclear score + tubular score + mitotic score= ) together is, will read the Mitotic Activity, mine was not so great either. Hi  InTwoPlaces, you could question the accuracy of your report findings to your Onco ! I am horrified he told you in that context, like you needed to know his personal opinion, highest his seen, he could of said it was high not highest ! then to leave you in that mind set ! Not at all a professional approach ! It is known in the past that simple clerical errors with some pathology reports occur, worth checking, like drop the 1 and the reading would be 8 ! Or a request of your sample to be retested from the tumor sample held at the research centre, at a request by your Oncologist, errors also occur at pathology level, Either way heres hoping Herceptin works for us all.