HER2 Positive.Breast cancer.Any advice welcome please???

[mum2oliver]

My friends mum has breast cancer, cant find the primary source and its spread to the lymph node under the arm pit.She's got ductile casanoma(spelling rubbish) in situ in the breast but also has an invasive cancer that has not been found and secondery cancer of the lymph nodes and has tested positive for her2.
Please can anyone advice anything about this?
Does anyone have this or know anyone?
How can my friend find out the statistics?

Anyone???

i didn't want you to feel ignored but sorry i don't really know much about breat cancer, thou i know a bit about chemo and radiotherapy.
i am sure someone will be along soon who can help.

thank you for responding.Its all very sad but just didnt know where else to get advice.

Hi,
Have you tried cancer back up uk? They can send leaflets that are frank but informative. I think they have a helpline and definately have a website. I know that Her2 positive means it's a pretty aggressive form of breast cancer If you search 'Barbara Clarke/ herceptin' on the web you should be able to get some more facts about Her2 strains.(She was the lady who battled for funding for the drug Herceptin on the NHS to treat Her2 positive breast cancers.

Hth a bit, good luck to your friend

the macmillan website is rather good and they have a chat board on there too.

Her2 positivity used to be a bad thing but is now a good thing, in many ways, because it means she is likely to respond to Hercpetin. The Ductal Carcinoma in Situ is not so worrying, but the invasive cancer and lymph node part is. She needs to fight for Herceptin if they don't suggest it though, it could make a big difference.

Hi , can i recommend the breast cancer care website or helpline 0808 800 6000 ?. They were an invaluable source of help, advice and support to me when i was diagnosed 2 and a half years ago. Like your friend's mum I was her2 positive, and after surgery, chemo and a bit of a struggle I managed to get herceptin, which should now be available to all. If I can help any more please let me know.

hi there my name is paula. I'm no expert but i am a second year nursing student, who could help with any questions you have in regards to your prognosis due to the research into breast cancer i am curently doing as a easy topic. i hope this help
kind regards
paula

I'm a breast cancer survivor - 2 years post diagnosis. My cancer was HER2 but was a invasive type, not DCIS. I had lymph node spread too - 9 out of 16 nodes.

Stats - cancerbackup is good for hard facts. breastcancercare.co.uk is good for support.

Your friend can ask her oncologist or her surgeon for stats too although you might find they are reluctant to give them. There are a lot of grey areas when it comes to cancer and they may not be able to tell her. Prognosis stats increase with treatment however, and herceptin is getting some very good write-ups.

Her breast care nurse might be the best place to start if she is intimidated about asking the doctors.

I'll keep a watch on this thread but need to go to bed now.

As far as I know brest cancer must be looked with profissionalism. An oncologist must be consulted, perhaps a second opinion too. Bur brest cancer can be treated with long survivals with good quality of life, Hope must be there because it is real and a good possibility of happening. There are reasonable good treatments and approaches of the disease and life shoud be lived day by day with cancer as without it!!

My Mun has HER2 breast cancer which spread to her lymph noes. She also developed inflammatory breast cancer. She had a couple of courses of chemo/radiotherapy in the first 4(?) years of being diagnosed, and was then given herceptin. She's been receiving herceptin for approx 2-3 years now and is feeling great.

Her oncologist is extremely pleased with her, and is proud to cite as an example of how hugely effective herceptin can be in this type of cancer.

I hope your mum's friend can be treated successfully too

lol my Mum not Mun

Thank you so so much everyone.She will be having herceptin.She wants to know the statistics.I dont think she will get this answer.She has asked the proffesionals but like already said they wont say.I will keep you posted.

mum2oliver, that's because they don't know the stats rather than because they are unwilling, I think. Herceptin hasn't been available for long enough to be able to assess 5 year survival yet but all the professionals I know are still thinking of it as a wonder drug, so she might just need to cling to that thought.

You're right.That would make sense.

Hi there, I work with breast cancer and test for HER-2 status. Try this site. Also cancer bacup. As someone else has previously said, the Breast Care Nurse and Oncologist are the best sources of advice and information as they know individual circumstances.

Wishing her all the best