Hers positve, tumor 3 by 5 cm

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sisterinCA
sisterinCA Member Posts: 2
edited November 2016 in IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)

My sister has been diagnosed with Progesterone and Estrogen Negative, HERS positive a couple of weeks ago. She had a biopsy, PETscan and has a tumor marker. Her cell grade is stage 3. It is 3 by 5 centimeter. Pet scan showed negative in lymph nodes.

She is getting chemotherapy every two weeks. Doc said chemo will shrink the cancer cells before surgery. No Herceptin till after 8 weeks. When Herceptin is added, she will have chemo every 3 weeks. The treatment plan is one year.

Why does she not have Herceptin with chemotherapy in the beginning?

Why a petscan after biopsy?

Can the cancer cells reach her lymph nodes and other areas while having chemo?

I am so worry about my sister.


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  • ElaineTherese
    ElaineTherese Member Posts: 3,328
    edited November 2016

    Hi!

    I'm sorry to hear about your sister. It sounds like she's beginning with a chemo combination called Adriamycin and Cytoxin. Both Adriamycin and Herceptin can be hard on the heart, so they're usually not given together. Initially, Herceptin is given with a taxane like Taxotere or Taxol. Since your sister will be doing a second chemo combo every three weeks, she's probably doing Taxotere.

    Your sister probably got a PET scan to make sure that her cancer was localized (in the breast area) rather than metastaticized (spread elsewhere).

    Chemo works well for aggressive cancers like HER2+ cancer; your sister may even feel her lump shrink as the weeks go by.

    Best wishes and ((Hugs)).

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  • sisterinCA
    sisterinCA Member Posts: 2
    edited November 2016

    My sister will be receiving her 2nd chemo treatment december 2nd. Last night , she said the cancer hasn't shrunk. I asked if it got bigger and she said she didn't know. Not encouraging as she was told that it could shrink after one treatment.


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  • Kimm992
    Kimm992 Member Posts: 135
    edited November 2016

    Please tell her not to stress about this after only 1 treatment!

    I was also ER/PR negative and HER2 positive. I didn't see ANY shrinkage at all until my 4th chemo treatment (when they started Herceptin). By the time I had surgery they found I had an ALMOST complete response - I just had a TINY amount of microscopic cells left.

    Herceptin is an amazing drug...wait and see and don't be discouraged!!

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