Treatment for Her2+ breast cancer

Glad to hear that you didn’t take the hormone inhibitors,I start my 5 weeks of radiation tomorrow and I DO NOT WANT THE SO CALLED Hormone therapy.I want to continue with my HRT which I have used for 27 years with no issues until recently.I live in Italy and I think the wine caused the cancer.Stage 1b.

My understanding of HER2+ is that it's generally considered a more aggressive cancer. Stage 1 HER2+ is early, but you also need to also consider the level of HER2+ positivity, if there is hormone positivity, and the grade (1,2 or 3) of cancer cells. Do you have a KI-67 score? That may help inform your next steps. Treatment is always a personal choice. For myself I never questioned going forward with cancer chemo targeted therapy treatment, as the attributes of the tumor I had suggested a poorer prognosis if I did nothing.

I was diagnosed with stage 1, HER2+ (positivity 3), hormone negative, grade 3 breast cancer post mastectomy in January 2023. The surgery was for multi-focal DCIS in my left breast and localized DCIS in my right breast (those were diagnosed in October 2022, so no chemo prior to surgery). Once the HER2+ tumor stage 1 was found I made the choice to be treated with Kadcyla (TDM1), a chemo targeted drug, emtasine bound with herceptin. I was supposed to have 17 rounds, but had to stop at 13 due to increased liver enzymes not in scope of what's considered reasonable. I continued to work fulltime through treatment with the exception of an infusion day every 3 weeks. I did struggle some with fatigue. It's now been over a year and half since treatment ended and I am doing very well.

I am 83. I had Her2+ at 79. I had a lumpectomy, chemo with herceptin and 5 weeks of radiation every day. I refused hormone inhibetors. The oncologist finds no signs of cancer in my blood work.

Just for the record,I did not do Chemo.I had the results of the Oncotype DS and several other tests that said I didn’t need chemo.I was relieved !

@health77 my daughter is 30 and was just diagnosed with invasive breast cancer cancer. With.ER+PR-HER2+
She does not want chemo. She hasn’t had any children yet. Did your doctor recommend chemo? She is just desperately trying to find somewhere that would do a chemo, free treatment and hopefully be effective.

Just for the record,I did not do Chemo.I had the results of the Oncotype DS and several other tests that said I didn’t need chemo.I was relieved !

@sbrown96 Sorry to hear this. My oncologist recommended chemo, surgery, radiation and follow up with Letrozole. All of these were scary, but the chemo was not that bad and actually the letrozole is the worst one because it is for five years and the side effects are always there.

I had seven chemo sessions three weeks apart and after each session I didn’t feel well for a couple of days, but for the rest of the three weeks, I felt not too bad.

I had an old dog while I was going through the chemo and I managed to keep up her walk schedule, even the 3 am ones and I kept working with minimal absences. I think I kept a mind over matter kind of attitude that neither the cancer nor the treatment was going to win.

If she’s afraid of hair loss, get a good supply of hats. She can wear a nice beanie type with a fancier one on top. I always kept my head covered and never actually saw my bare head because I felt that would make me feel sick!
The journey is different for everyone and I found the doctors and nurses very good at guiding me through. Best wishes!

@health77 my daughter is 30 and was just diagnosed with invasive breast cancer cancer. With.ER+PR-HER2+
She does not want chemo. She hasn’t had any children yet. Did your doctor recommend chemo? She is just desperately trying to find somewhere that would do a chemo, free treatment and hopefully be effective.