HER2+++

hi shelley,  I think it has to do with the number of times  the her-2 neu protein replicates it's self.  the more it replicates, the more positive you are.  I too was very positive.  I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing in regards of herceptin treatment?!?!   My thinking would be that the herceptin would tag it more easily, but i could be wrong.  I too would like to hear from the others on this.  Tina

Shelley,

I think that typically the "HER2+" text string is used by people to indicate HER2 factor overexpression (ie. "positive") as opposed to on a path report where ist can be shown as:

0 (not overexpressed)

1+ (not overexpressed)

2+ (borderline overexpressed), or

3+ (overexpressed)

Your diagnosis appears to be the last of these. 

As I understand it, it is hard to get a false positive for HER2 (my path report actually had a photo of the cells showing the staining and pattern that was pretty obvious).  However, when initial IHC (immunohistochemistry) testing comes back with an ambiguous result (ie. +1 or +2) they are supposed to order a more sensitive testing called FISH to clarify if the tumor is HER2+ or not. 

HER2 is actually a protein that sits on the outside of the cell membrane.  When it is overexpressed there are too many of them on the outside of the cell membrane.  This overexpression causes cells to grow too much, spread and clump together (in other words, aggressive cancer).

Herceptin antibodies latch on to the HER2 proteins and tag the cells for destruction by your immune system.  Your immune system is what actually kills the HER2 cells. 

Hope this helps.

Is it better to be HER2+ or HER2++ HER2+++???