Podcast on HER2-positive breast cancer recurrence

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HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Recurrence

December 15, 2017

Dr. Marleen Meyers is a medical oncologist and clinical assistant professor of medicine at NYU Langone. She also serves as director of the Perlmutter Cancer Center Survivorship Program. She received her medical degree from the NYU School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years.

Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Meyers talk about:

• what HER2-positive breast cancer is and how its aggressiveness ranks compared to other types of breast cancer
• factors doctors consider when estimating a person's risk of recurrence
• specific ways to reduce the risk of HER2-positive disease recurrence
• how she helps her patients manage the fear of recurrence

Running time: 17:06

Listen now or read the transcript.

Ewdubs

This was a great explanation of my personal diagnosis. So easy to understand that I emailed it to friends and family . We were so surprised by my diagnosis that we left the doctors’ office in a haze - this clarified many of my initial questions. Thank you!

moderators

Thanks so much for your feedback. Ewdubs!

Yestolife

I wish I would have read this when I was first diagnosed. Very informative and gave me more peace of mind

moderators

Dear Yestolife,

Welcome to our community. We are glad that you found us and found this information to be helpful, despite it not being timely. What else might be helpful to you now? Let us know how we can help you to make good use of the discussion boards and the support and wisdom of our members. The MOds

Elijahgirl

My sister has been diagnosed with both HER2 positive and HER2 negative, how is this possible? This is her third relapse and is currently Stage IV. We both have the CHEK2 genetic mutation as well, that being said I am getting my own biopsy results tomorrow what are the odds of us having the same results should mine come back positive too

sajescents

I was diagnosed as HER2-negative in the left breast (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma) and as HER2-positive in the right breast (Invasive Lobular Carcinoma) - two completely separate cancers for which I had bilateral lumpectomies and sentinel node excisions in December 2017. So far, no recurrence.

shoruq

good morning ,i have question regarding patient who have breast cancer hormone receptor positive ,took tamoxifien 5 years then switched to anastrazole for 3 years ,hormone therapy stopped completely since 4 months ago ,does it good to continue anastrazole for more 2-3 years to decrease the cancer recurrence risk ,with balance to the joints and bones side effects

your answer will be appreciated ,thanks alot

Ada85

I enjoyed reading this.

Thanks!!

moderators

shoruq, we wish we could provide you medical advice, but that is really a very good question for your or your friend's physician. You may want to read more on Arimidex here, to help guide your decisions: http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/hormonal/aro...

Ada85, thanks for that feedback.

Zahid

Is it effective to start herceptin after the completion of mastectomy, chemo and radio?

Zahid

My mother has ER PR negative and her2 positive...she had mastectomy done first then chemotherapy and radio therapy but no herceptin...is it effective to start herceptin after finishing surgery, chemo and radio?? I want to give her herceptin. Will it be a good decision? I am in deep tension and can not take the decision.

moderators

Zahid, Welcome to Breastcancer.org,

What is your mother's doctor saying about starting Herceptin after her other treatments? Of course, only your mother's doctor will know the best course of action for her treatment, so we encourage you to contact her medical team and speak with them about the next steps of treatment, if any.

There's some good information on the timing of Herceptin on the main Breastcancer.org site's page on How Herceptin Works, which may be helpful.

We hope this helps!

--The Mods

marionkluges

I read the transcript and you have explained to me better then any research I have found. I didn't want to do the chemo as my daughter is a registered nurse at nyu and she has tried to help me not do the chemo. but I see from reading its really the only way to go and maybe after the new pill. my caner didn't get into the lymph nodes which was good.   there really isn't to much research on the triple positive and your article helped

moderators

marion, we are so very happy to hear that our podcast was helpful to you! We hope you'll find our community and site informative.

Welcome and please let us know if you need anything at all!

--The Mods

UnrealTarHeel

Thank you for posting this and keeping it pinned. Even though it's about what my medical team has been telling me, there was something uniquely reassuring about reading the transcript, seeing it in print, and also being able to go back and reread (and re-reread) it. I appreciated Dr. Meyers's emphasis on the positive statistics. That's such a challenging thing to focus on right now.

moderators

Thanks for that feedback, UnrealTarHeel!

Angit

Hi Everyone,

I just watched a dr talk about a new drug that has been approved very recently. It is called Tucatinib and is for HER2+. The trial included people with Stage 4 and people with brain mets. So I just wanted to share that is out there!

Best of luck and recovery to all!

Angi

(Edited by Mods to remove user's last name from the post. We strongly recommend not posting personal information on a public forum, for your own privacy and security.)