Is HER2 Breast Cancer Aggressive or Does It Have a Good Prognosis?

I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. Her2 positive. In January of 2022. Had surgery to remove the cancer,it was a success. Had chemo and radiation. Cancer free. I’m trusting and believing in God that he will keep me from harm and danger. The word say if we have faith the size of a mustard seed. I have faith that God is keeping us. Get a relationship with God and see want he do it!! I did!!

It is very aggressive but luckily there are meds to treat it. The movie Living Proof is good & is about Herceptin.

Veronica, i didn’t know that ! I’ll have to find that movie . I’ll take Herceptin for a year after all my chemo and surgery, radiation. It can cause heart damage so I’m taking a supplement called coq 10 to help. But the worst side effects are from the chemo drugs , not the immunotherapy. I think ..

I was diagnosed with with Her2 + and it is very aggressive . So they had to take out the whole Breast on one Side . I still have it in the other one . But it is at a stand still right now . So I’m praying it stay that way .

@Philly if you can't do chemo how are they treating you as far as with what? Pills or something?

I was triple positive with a 2”x3” fast growing tumor- left breast. (Invasive ductal carcinoma.) It had matasticized to my lymph nodes. Treated with TCHP then mastectomy then radiation (and lots of prayers by lots of people!) Pathology after the surgery (left breast mastectomy) showed zero cancer cells!!! So, I saw first hand, it was aggressive and it did respond very well to the treatment! Have hope! And pray!

@barbara what treatment did you have in 2019

I agree. It’s super overwhelming I am having the same issue in understanding it all. Blessings & luck. 🙏🏼🥰

I was Dx stage 3C at age of 42 Her2+ Left breast, IDC. As you can imagine I was terrified. I had 3 different opinions on course of Treatment and decided to go with herceptin, perjeta, Taxol, and carboplatin. I am Now 5 years out from surgery and 4 yrs out from finishing the every 3 weeks of herceptin for a year and I am NED! Still. 💖🙏 I did the chemo first then surgery and they still recommended radiation, which I did do but regret. Had ended up with some heart damage from the rads and muscle atrophy, but Im alive!

@Vanessa T Our cases were very similar. I was stage 3A with the same treatment but mine was in my right breast. I just finished 33 radiation treatments, and I'm having 2nd thoughts about whether I should have had the radiation. I'm nearly 5 months out from surgery and still having swelling and discomfort. I'm just so thankful to be NED!

The new targeted treatments gives it the best outcomes. It is very aggressive but also very responsive to new targeted meds. Praying for you !!! Hope this helps I’m also HER 2 positive and ER/PR +

I had a lumpectomy in March 2024, to remove 3 very small tumors. Lab came back with HER2 positive, but my FISH came back back negative. One lab said a 2 Another said a 3. My oncologist sent to two different labs for fresh eyes. My chemo is on hold until they know how they want to treat it. Holding pattern is making me second guess everything! God bless everyone here and the journey they are taking, but remember you are not alone!!

It’s more aggressive but a lot of it research is done on it and therefore there’s more treatment options and the cancer is more susceptible to treatment 

@veronica G - OMG! Such a great movie! I watch it the first year I was diagnosed ( 2018) it gave me so much hope... I am literally as of yesterday going on 6 years! I'm completely off treatment, as of a year ago..... And I'm still NEAD!! My next set of scans are scheduled in July.... I don't know what's going to happen.., however I'm very prepared for anything they have to offer. 😉

I am triple positive with one positive lymph node. I had LVI and extranodal extension. I took anastrozole for a few weeks before lumpectomy. Core biopsy only showed HER2 as equivocal but the tumor biology was HER2 3+. The surgery revealed that I had 2 tumors in same location but one was DCIS). After taking the anastrozole for a couple of weeks before surgery, my estrogen and progesterone levels dropped from 100% to 70% and 30% respectively and my Ki-67 levels dropped from 80% to 30% when the tumor was analyzed and they changed my diagnose from HR+HER- to triple positive. My radiation oncologist mentioned Signatera ctDNA testing. I looked into it and Medicare covers it if you are stage 2B or higher. The first Signatera test was after surgery and before I started chemo. The results were negative which is encouraging. After surgery I had 6 rounds of TCHP and continued to take anastrozole. I have a blood draw every 6 weeks and so far ctDNA is negative and undetected. I am continuing with targeted treatment with Phesgo. I also got Proton treatment for 5 weeks. My Mammaprint/Blueprint indicated ultra high chance for recurrence. I also had genetic testing for germ line or inherited genes and this was negative. Has anyone had treatment similar to mine? I am very fearful of a recurrence.

New - I was able to be tested. Ask for it. 97% accuracy https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jun/02/predictive-blood-test-hailed-as-incredibly-exciting-breast-cancer-breakthrough

What is TCHP?

Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Perjeta

I'm looking for the same answers

I'm looking for the same answers

Both are true. It is very aggressive if it is left untreated but it is very treatable. The medical researchers have found drugs that work. Among the drugs are Kadcyla, Enhertu, Herceptin and Perjeta. The prognosis is often very good!

It IS very aggressive but the positive is that there are SO many treatment options, with more being approved “all the time.” I was diagnosed in May 2019 and my oncologist told me, “who knows, five years from now we may be having a totally different conversation with all of the research and advancements.” In the time since I’ve been diagnosed Kadcyla and Enhertu have been approved and implemented. Enhertu seems like it could be the next as Herceptin/miracle drug. More is coming!

Her2 is very aggressive . I did not even know I had breast cancer until I had 4 strokes and it showed up right after that in 2017 . Now I have markers in my other breasts for the other spots I have which is Her2 Breast cancer. I go back in June 2023 to see what the test tell us this time . I hate to go back again . It will be markers again to see how much it has grown . So I cannot take treatment since I have had strokes .

Newly dx. Invasive DCIS HER2+ ER+PR+. Surgery in 2 weeks. She will know more with lymph nodes testing but I should expect taxol, radiation and Herceptin. Any one want to share experience ? The good, bad and ugly. Thanks

I'm on THCP. ITS NOT NICE TO THE BODY. BUT IM GLAD IM ALIVE AND FIGHTING.