Am I her2 pos or not?

wabals

First IHC equivocal with pos FISH. Second 2 IHC for clinical trial negative. Has anyone had this happen?

Italychick

I had three tests done. First two came back equivocal. Third test was called FISH Analysis HER2 Breast Equivocal FISH Panel where they measure HER2/TP53, HER2/RARA, and HER2/SMSCR ratios, whatever those are. Even on my third level of testing, some of the ratios came out HER positive (2.1 and cutoff is 2.0), but one ratio still showed negative. So the report said final opinion is positive for HER2, but response to therapy should be monitored carefully.

So I guess that means 2 levels of "equivocal" and one level of 2/3rds positive, 1/3rd still equivocal.

Having said all that, I am doing Herceptin because I found an article saying sometimes the HER receptors in smaller tumors may be underexpressed, but Herceptin still has a favorable outcome. My MO left the decision up to me, but said if it were her, she would take Herceptin since it is such a powerful drug and my other receptors are negative, so I have no long term hormonal available to me.

Not sure if I helped, or added more confusion to the situation.

Best of luck!

wabals

Thanks!

DealingWithIt

Hello everyone and congrats on fighting it on..my wife (46 yrs; couple years post menopausal ) has been recently diagnosed with IDC 0/5 nodes Grade III, 2.5cm (removed Aug 26, margins clear), ER+ (100%)/PR- but the HerNeu2 test is a 2+ which they tell us is not likely to get CCO (Cancer Care Ontario) funding for Herceptin. While we mull over options - which include taking a line of credit to pay for it - I would be very grateful to anyone who can give us advice/suggestions.

Sometimes the advice given by well wishers who haven't gone through cancer can be hard to comprehend; as we can see how our world and thinking has suddenly changed.

Best wishes to all here.

DealingWithIt

Sorry I meant removed Aug 06 not 26. Thanks again...

Moderators

Dear DealingWithIt, We are sorry to hear of your wife's diagnosis but glad that you reached out here. While you are waiting for some responses please take a look at our information on Her 2 status. Good luck and keep us posted. The Mods

annika12

if you decide to go for herceptin contact the maker of it (forgot the name ) they helped with the cost of mine, I had $900 copays !!!

DealingWithIt

I thank you for the replies. I am thinking you might be in the U.S. We are in Ontario and I am trying to find out if the manufacturer has any discounts for outside U.S. Also trying to see another oncologist as the one we saw was not receptive to the idea of us paying for it.