Question: What is the difference between a Her2/neu score 2+ and score 2.6?
Answer: It sounds like your cancer was first tested using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and it was scored 2+. Approximately 25-30% of cancers that are 2+ by immunohistochemistry will be amplified by FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization). Thus, all cancers that get [...]

I’m sure most of you have heard of stem cells and how researchers are trying to study them to cure a variety of diseases.  Many of you may not know that stem cells were identified in the breast in 2003 and researchers are trying to determine their role in breast cancer development.
A few months ago, [...]

I have uploaded the Tutorial on Breast Pathology, Part II which covers the basics of invasive carcinoma.  As with the other tutorials it is in pdf format.  Please feel free to comment or post suggestions for future articles. I hope you find this information useful.
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Many patients ask how they know if they are getting the appropriate treatment for their breast cancer. No two patients are alike and therefore treatment decisions are based upon your unique situation and the type of cancer you have. This is one reason why it is important to get a second opinion on your pathology [...]

Question: I was just diagnosed with Stage I invasive lobular carcinoma, 1.4 cm, ER/PR positive and Her2/neu negative. But my doctor told me the pathologists found some cancer cells in my sentinel lymph node, but they were so small that he said they are called “isolated tumor cells.” What does this mean?

A recent study from MD Anderson Cancer Center looked at a group of women with breast cancers that tested positive for HER2 over-expression who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy.  Of the women who still had residual invasive cancer in their breast following their surgery, approximately 30% of them had cancers that were now HER2 negative.
We performed a [...]

Most invasive carcinomas of the breast are invasive carcinoma NST (no special type), also called invasive ductal carcinoma. These account for approximately 65-75 % of invasive carcinomas. The remaining invasive carcinomas are referred to as “special type.” The most common among the special types is invasive lobular carcinoma which is the second [...]

HER2 (also called c-erbB-2) stands for human epidermal growth factor receptor-2. It is a protein on the surface of cells that can be over-expressed (too much of the protein) in approximately 20% of breast cancers. HER2 over-expression is usually associated with a worse prognosis but it also is predictive of response to certain [...]

An invasive, or infiltrating, carcinoma refers to a cancer that has invaded beyond the confines of the ducts and lobules in the breast. This is different from carcinoma in situ, which has not invaded the surrounding breast tissue.
The vast majority of invasive carcinomas are called invasive ductal carcinomas, but also may be referred to as: [...]