HER2 + no chemo

What was the size of the invasive part and what were its characteristics for ER, PR, etc.?

I think you should seek another opinion, especially If it is ER- and PR- IDC.

AlaskaAngel

I would get a 2nd opinion. This might be correct but HER2+ hormone negative is more aggressive and you don't have hormone therapy for 5 years like us triple positive folds have.

Granted this is so small no chemo/herceptin might be the right course but you want to be sure.

I agree with the others about a second opinion, as Her2+ is very aggresive.

Dyekim, we have your exact initial diagnosis.   Di's tumor was 6 cm with .1mm of microinvasion.  No nodes.  ER-/Pr-/Her2+.  We were put at Stage 1a.  93% chance of 5year survival.  81% of no recurrance in 5 years.  With Chemo the odds went to 94% and 88%.  We opted out of chemo.  We also didn't read a lot of stories.  Di had a bmx with Temp expanders.  Also note that Di had a previous history of Hodgkins(20 years ago).  This may relate in our story, the doctors can't answer that.

We are the unlucky % as Di was diagnosed with extensive lung mets less than 6 months later.   We still don't know whether or not we would have had chemo.  We certainly don't know if it would have changed the outcome.  Life is funny that way I guess.  Chemo is not easy, to put it bluntly it sucks.  I would get a second opinion and from one of the upper tier cancer institutes.  It will cost but I believe it would be well worth the money.   I don't know if this helps or scares the h... out of you, but we felt you needed to hear it.  Feel free to PM us or we will follow this thread if you have any more questions.

Pat and Diane.

Yeah, evebarry, its the breast cancer.  Di lights up a PET scan like a christmas tree.  I think the early radiation from the Hodgkins may have caused the cancer to move more aggressively.  My humble opinion, not a lot of research here.  We feel like we have been hit by a truck.  We definately are not the norm, just relaying our story.

Keep vigilant all, Pat

It might be too late to commence chemo/herceptin - if you get a second opinion, they should be able to tell you this.

Dyekim,

What country are you in?  Sometimes that makes a difference in the medical treatment you receive.

My diagnosis was the same as yours.  Luckily, I went in early for a mammogram as I wanted a breast reduction.  My IDC was not found by the mammogram or ultrasound but I was told to come back in for a followup mammogram in 6 months.  My primary care physician sent me instead to a surgeon who did an excisional biopsy of the area and an extremely aggressive tiny IDC was found.

The tumor was so fast growing that if I had waited the additional three months for my yearly mammogram, I most likely would have been stage 4.  Unlike some poster's beliefs, not all breast cancer is slow growing.  Being hormone negative and HER2 positive ups the grow rate of the cells to very aggressive.

We threw the book at the breast cancer: mastectomy, AC, and 1 year of herceptin.

Five years later, I am still NED.  If possible get a second opinion.  Your life might depend on it.

Its very possible that I have my figures incorrect.  I do know that it was a 6cm tumor of dcis with 1 of 13 cross sections showing 0.1 mm of microinvasion.  He may tweaked the numbers due to the previous history of Hodgkins or I just have them wrong.

I realize that we are in the 1-2% of really unlucky people.  It has really been a shock to both of us.  I tell our story with much trepidation.  I know we are on the outlying area of the bell curve.  But let me tell you all that the statistics mean very little to us now.  I think we took the original dx to lightly, we didn't stay vigilant.  We didn't call the oncologist when we didn't get the Her2+ test results.(Got those about 2 weeks before Di developed a "cold") 

What we know is we didn't do all we could to determine what our options were.  Would it have made any difference, I doubt it(at least that what I tell myself so that I can sleep at night).

Good luck to you all, this disease has changed us drastically and a cure can never come soon enough.

I would definately get a 2nd opinion on this.  Her2+++ is a very aggressive cancer and regardless of hormone status, you need to have Herceptin and Chemotherapy.  I went through six cycles of Taxol and Carboplatin and weekly Herceptin infusions.  I didn't have a choice.....because of the Her2, this is what I was told my treatment would be if I wanted any chance at beating this. I wish you the best of luck.

dyekim - sorry about your diagnosis, and also sorry about your Dad and his pancreatic CA dx.  I can certainly relate - lost both my dad and brother to stage IV lung CA and stage IV bile duct CA, respectively.  It would be natural for you to be feeling somewhat vulnerable in light of your Dad's dx. If your surgery was last year at this time I don't know if there is any benefit to chemo/herceptin at this point, but a second opinion could provide that information.  Generally speaking, most MO don't like to have more than 12 weeks between surgery and the start of chemo.  If you are feeling unsure, I would talk to another MO, and at least get some additional clarification.  You might want to change your stats at the bottom of your signature line - right now it looks like you had IDC that measured 5cm, which would be inconsistent with a stage 1 dx.  You can change it to 5cm DCIS, with IDC microinvasion, which is more accurate.