her2 equivocal fish neg.....???

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ttly11
ttly11 Member Posts: 30
edited June 2014 in Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment


what does this mean?

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited October 2013


    There are several methods for Her2 testing of tumor samples. I am guessing that IHC testing was done first and that the result was equivocal - or "borderline", (below is a link for the different tests, and their results). Because of the borderline result from IHC additional FISH testing was done, which yields a pos or neg result with no equivocation.


    http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/her2

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  • ttly11
    ttly11 Member Posts: 30
    edited October 2013


    thanks....the FISH WAS NEG! not sure what's next....bad communication w the MD.....soooo can't call till my appt...

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  • Sassa
    Sassa Member Posts: 1,588
    edited October 2013


    If you are Her2 negative, you will not receive Herceptin as part of your treatment.

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  • PamelaKay
    PamelaKay Member Posts: 107
    edited October 2013


    There are two types of tests for HER2 receptors. Immunohistochemical (IHC) testing looks at the receptors on the cell. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) looks at the genes in the cells nucleus. Generally they will do the IHC and if the results are obvious, they wouldn't do the FISH. If there is any concern or question, they will do the FISH also.


    In most cases, the two tests will agree. I was a rare case where they did both tests on my biopsy tissue and came up with "discordant results": the IHC was strongly negative and the FISH was strongly positive. They retested on the tumor itself after the MX with the FISH test and it came up as 1.94, an ambiguous result, and two points below the "cutoff" for receiving herceptin.


    After checking with colleagues, my MO decided that they wouldn't "deny" my treatment with herceptin just because I was two points under the cutoff.


    You might want to find out more about exactly what the test results were. Being HER2 negative means you have one less mode of treatment, but the good news is that HER2 positive cancers are generally more agressive.





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  • coraleliz
    coraleliz Member Posts: 1,523
    edited October 2013


    One of my tumor was equivicol(IHC) & then neg by FISH. My other tumor was her2 negative by IHC, no FISH needed. I'm considered Her2 neg. I'll have to search for my report to see the actual number though.

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