My mom is her2 positive but doesn't want chemo

Jcextra123

My mom is 67 years old. She just found out she had breast cancer and apparently it's an aggressive one. It's her2 positive (immunohistory) but INDETERMINANT (FISH) She also has estrogen receptor positive of 93% but progesterone receptor negative. She had a ki67 of 7 percent and this was all on her pathology report. Is she really her2 positive with a ki67 as low as 7 percent? She has a lumpectomy tommorrow. We look on the pathology report and it says this cancer is slow spreading and not aggressive. Aren't her2 positive cancers supposed to be aggressive and fast spreading. Her cancer measure between 0.8cm and 1.2cm at greatest dimension per her pathology report and they are still saying its a low grade of 1. Isn't it supposed to be a higher grade if it's her2 positive. Is there hope that this cancer could be her2 negative as well?

AlwaysMeC

I am HER2 positive, with a histologic notttingham grade 2. It may be that the cells don't look too abnormal and there is not a lot of division happening, which is why her grade is low. From my understanding they use the grade to determine how much radiation would help. I am still in neoadjuvent treatment, so there are probably members here that have more knowledge on that.

Chemo is usually recommended for HER2 prior to surgery. I think it also depends on size, but mine was 18 mm and the oncologist is being very aggressive, saying it's close enough to 20, so I could have Perjeta added to my treatment plan.

I am always a broken record when I bring this up, but try not to read research articles older than 5 or 6 years. There are so many advancements with HER2 that you will find outcomes have greatly improved in just the past few years. Older papers will worry you unnecessarily.

The treatment plan for ER+ and HER2 is different from mine, so hopefully another member will chime in.

Jcextra123

Thank you for your reassurance on advancements in just the last 5 years. It soothes me moving forward. I needed to read this. I've. Been panicking uncontrollably today at work. I hope we can find a treatment plan tailored to her needs that won't cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. God help me.