TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP

fluffqueen01 triple negative and HER2+/hormone- are the more aggressive than triple positive. Did I post that backwards before? HEr2+/hormone- at least has Herceptin etc to treat but seems it is more like triple negative. Both seem to have a high recurrence rate in the first 2-3 years then really drop offs with a lower incidence of recurrence it the late future.

chicaroo44 If you are BRCA1+ your lifetime risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer is higher. Talk to your doctor about the information below. I don't understand the 40% HER2+ but if that means you are positive it's not unusual to have a low or no ER/PR status.:

Cancer risks for women with HBOC

• Lifetime risk of breast cancer 50% to 85%
• Risk of breast cancer before age 50 30% to 50%
• Lifetime risk of ovarian cancer
  • BRCA1 gene mutation 25% to 40%
  • BRCA2 gene mutation 15% to 27%

Netty not sure what that means.

It's androgen. It's a new receptor they found. Soon we will see her 2 pos er pos. Ar pos. Ar is for androgen. Google it.

Interesting.

Re: androgen receptors - 

Androgens are another class of sex hormones, and epidemiologic studies have supported their role in breast biology and carcinogenesis [2-4]. In fact, the androgen receptor (AR) is expressed in the vast majority of breast cancers, with some studies reporting expression of AR in up to 90% of primary tumors and 75% of metastatic lesions [5,6], although more contemporary studies suggest that the frequency of AR expression varies depending on the subtype of breast cancer (for example, ERα-positive (luminal) versus triple-negative and basal breast cancers), and other clinical and pathologic parameters [7-9].

http://breast-cancer-research.com/content/14/1/r27

Lee A. Yes not many women have heard of this.

Re: androgen - I suppose if our tumors weren't tested for it at the time of excision we'll never know if they were androgen positive or not; however, according to the article c/p below - 77% of them might be androgen positive.  And this is even important for women who have or had triple negative tumors because up to 20% of those tumors might be AR+. 

Fewer pink frying pans and more research, please! 

Link: 

Evidence increasing that breast cancer is driven by androgen

http://www.oncologynurseadvisor.com/evidence-increasing-that-breast-cancer-is-driven-by-androgen/article/290451/

Very interesting articles on androgen. Hopefully the research will lead to more tools in the pink toolbox!

Again I cannot understand what the doc meant last month when she said your tumor has this good thing called androgen. She is one of the top in triple negative research. Ironically my radiation oncologist tryed to tell me something like this also about I fell into a new subtype that was discussed in December in Texas. As you know I had recurrence lastcyr same breast as 12 yrs back. But after I was done she told me about the androgen and threw numbers at me like 95 percent won't come back to chest 97 percent won't come back systemically. Little puzzling. I questioned her and she told me she never throws words out without having proof.

Androgens

Some 75 percent of all breast cancers and 10 to 20 percent of triple negative cancers are positive for the androgen receptor. Several research studies have looked at the influence of androgen receptors on TNBC, which means new treatments plus a broader and deeper understanding of the disease. TNBC cancers that are also positive for androgen receptors are molecularly similar to prostate cancer and could potentially be treated similarly.



AR-positive tumors responded well to bicalutamine and to 17-DMAG, a drug that has been recently in clinical trials, according to research presented by Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD, director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.



A phase 1 clinical trial at the University of Colorado has been studying the effectiveness of enzalutamide, a drug used to treat prostate cancer, on triple-negative. A phase 2 trial is planned at Colorado, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Karmanos Cancer Institute.



A Heterogeneous Disease

It is increasingly clear that TNBC is not one disease, but a family of diseases, some of which are highly aggressive, and some that are not aggressive at all. We're getting increasingly closer to knowing which ones are which. "

FINALLY figured out the photo thing !!!!  Spikes !

Thank you Miss Ashla... I am ready !

Thanks Miss Lee.... I kinda just noticed that my spikes look like my chick avatar's head -- LOL

YAY -- favorite color is purple -- I think I will have to borrow my daughter's hair chalk soon !!!

Thanks Miss Sherry !!!!!!

pbrain ask your doc.  Lots of cnacer research hospitals run these kind of test. You can also contact pathology they will pull tumor and run the AR test on it.

Netty, interesting! It will be interesting to see where it leads. Not sure there is enough there to require me to see if they could retest. It sounds like they think it has an effect, but not sure where to go with it. So much is going to change in ten years, I think! My BS said they are standing at the top of this mountain, surrounded by all this research and new information, but not sure yet what to do with it all.