Herceptin Yes or No

Was your lump 6cm or 6 mm? In most cases grade 3 , her2+ tumours are treated with chemo and herceptin even if there is no lymph node involvement as they are considered more aggressive tumours. I had chemo called FEC-D ( 6 rounds) and am herceptin for year.

i have a question on another thread "At what point did you get Herceptin" which is probably related to this thread.

hope we can share information-- for those have done Herceptin already-- you probably have tons of copies of results of clinical trials in your hand..

do you have something about -- First-line Herceptin monotheraphy? (meaning Herceptin only without the chemo as first- line of defense- I suppose)

mom2one-

I am your case ALMOST EXACTLY! and im a mom to one also! lol! I was originally dx with DCIS opted for BMX too it was over 3cm and i had multifocil microinvations with the largest site around 2mm. (so my dx was a bit differnet but around the same boat as you). I was grade 3 and HER2+++ i am also 30 so my onc was scared of me! he didnt know what to do either he sent me to a major cancer center in my area who said to do nothing more, went back to original onc and decided that there was defiantely a risk and that i wanted the herceptin with my age he wanted to be aggressive and i didnt want to look back wishing. i realized at that point that doctors dont know everything htey tell you the best they can based on what they know but with such small tumors the research just isnt out there my onc told me with digital mamos they are catching this much earilier with DCIS and that is a great thing but a tough call w. the microinvasive stuff! anyway you have to just go with your gut and what makes you most comfortabel the good news is either way your prognosis is very good. also, i went with the herceptin and a lower dose weekly regimine and less toxic dose of chemo, i did 12 weeks of weekly taxol and herceptin and now im on hercptin every three weeks. the taxol was not bad to tolerate, i worked throughout and DID NOT LOSE MY HAIR ON MY HEAD I USED PENGUIN COLD CAPS AND KEPT ALL THE HAIR ON MY HEAD! i did loose my eyelashes and body hair but have all the hair on my head and it made the process so much easer! PM me if you would like! hang in there your second opinion will help and also remember whatever you decide you have a good prognosis go with your gut!

I am confused about this Herceptin business.  My biopsy confirmed ER+ and PR+ but did not test for HER2.  I then had a lumpectomy, and the pathology report from that says "unknown" with regard to all three receptors.  I am about to undergo a unilateral MX with immediate tissue reconstruction on May 2.  Should I insist beforehand on an HER2 test?  Can they do that just from the llumpectomy tissue?  I know I asked the doctor about this, but I forget what she said.  I was still trying to grasp "mastectomy" just for DCIS.  

I'd appreciate any insights, or maybe a link to an explanation somewhere of when to be tested for HER2 receptors?  Thanks so much. 

Louisa2  The lumpectomy tissue should have been tested by the hospital for HER2 but they also should have sent it out to a lab for FISH testing which is more accurate.  I think it usually goes to California and takes a week or 2 to get the results back.  In fact I had my 3rd  lumpectomy which finally got clean margins before they got the result back showing HER2+++.  I ended up doing 12 weekly rounds of taxol with herceptin every 3 week for a year.  They started the taxol and herceptin the same Day.  I finished Herceptin in March last year.  I am past my 2 year NED now.  Herceptin is not that hard to do.  I missed one dose when I was ill and did not want to bring germs into the oncology unit and the doctor did not think I needed to make it up.  I don't think they are really sure what is the best length of time to give herceptin is yet.  Some studies have been for only 9 weeks.  The 1 year comes from the clinical trials done on Herceptin being this length when they were originally testing it.  As far as I know the only testing they can do for HER2 is testing tissue removed .  Best Wishes  Annette

Thank you all for your responses.  When I asked the oncologist about why my tissue wasn't tested for HER 2, she said that it would be extremely rare for a DCIS patient to have this and that I didn't need to worry about it.  Does that sound OK or not?  And since I've already had the mastectomy, is it now too late to have that test?

Thanks for any insights.