Triple Negs ..

[jayem]

Nav, your 3, 3 and 1 add up to 7 therefore your bc is a grade 2. Have a look at Janette's post and all is explained.

[yowyow]

Ok Ozzie, you posted as I was reading my path report

IDC BRE grade 2 - understand that part but.. (tubles 3, nuclei 3, mitoses 1) Whats all that ?

janette i just re read your post

[ozzie]

jeti that is so correct ...mine was grade 3 stage 3...and it did state (poorly-differentiated) i have the path reports here from my 1st dx 11yrs ago...
would love to have the path report for this lot now... where they state the nucli and all the rest...

oz

as for the treatment I went in hard and got......10yrs...

[ozzie]

well now we have a new gov...I do hope that Tykerb will be put onto the PBS...that would help so much for HER2 + ladies...keeping my fingers and toes crossed for this...
possumhome5 yes it is aggressive , but I dont think it increases the risk of recurrence, reason BC of any kind and u can get a recurrence..I thought I was home free, and a friend of mine had her BC return 25 yrs later...sucks..but I do think being positive does help...

oz

ps great to see you girls putting the stamp on the end of your posts..

[Janette]

Grading from Imaginis website

Pathologists closely observe three features when determining a cancer’s grade: the frequency of cell mitosis (rate of cell division), tubule formation (percentage of cancer composed of tubular structures), and nuclear pleomorphism (change in cell size and uniformity). Each of these features is assigned a score ranging from 1 to 3 (1 indicating slower cell growth and 3 indicating faster cell growth). The scores of each of the cells’ features are then added together for a final sum that will range between 3 to 9.

Tubule Formation (% of Carcinoma Composed of Tubular Structures)
Score
> 75% 1
10-75% 2
less than 10% 3

Nuclear Pleomorphism (Change in Cells) Score
Small, uniform cells 1
Moderate increase in size and variation 2
Marked variation 3

Mitosis Count (Cell Division) Score
Up to 7 1
8 to 14 2
15 or more 3

Summary of Histologic Grades of Breast Cancer

A tumor with a final sum of 3, 4, or 5 is considered a Grade 1 tumor (well-differentiated). A sum of 6 or 7 is considered a Grade 2 tumor (moderately-differentiated), and a sum of 8 or 9 is a Grade 3 tumor (poorly-differentiated).

[yowyow]

thanks Janine,

Adding to that with most triple negs being grade 3, (with grade 3 responding well to chemo)
from all I have read triple neg tumors also respond better to chemo -- good double whammie.

[Janine]

Hope you don't mind Nav but I just thought I'd add this description of tumour 'grade' from breastcancer.org:

"Grade" of cancer cell growth:
Patterns of cell growth are rated on a scale from 1 to 3 (also referred to as low, medium, and high instead of 1, 2 or 3).
Calm, well-organized growth with few cells reproducing is considered grade 1.
Disorganized, irregular growth patterns in which many cells are in the process of making new cells is called grade 3.
The lower the grade, the more favorable the expected outcome. At the same time, the higher the grade, the more vulnerable the cancer is to treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation. Therefore, women with a "high" or "grade 3" breast cancer can also feel hopeful about treatment.

[Ruth]

Oops, sorry girls I got it wrong there ..... after telling me I was her2+ he said the "good news" was that I could now have herceptin (not the case in the past unless you had a big bank balance). My apologies for the confursion

[yowyow]

Interested to know.... most triple neg tumors are grade 3

I was grade 2... although Onc said its actually not accurate as a grade 2 can act like
a grade 1 - or a grade 3 (more aggressive or not as)

Are most triple negs here grade 3 ?

[Janette]

Also Tykerb is having great results as well for HER2.

[possumhome5]

I'm a triple postive - ER/PR+ and HER2+ (and I'm 42).

My surgeon said that + HER2 means the cancer is more aggressive and increases the risk of recurrence, but the good thing is that tx is available in the form of Herceptin.

[ozzie]

yep I agree Lesley doesnt make any sense to me either...its weird...seems the white women are young ...ok some one with some brains please come and make sense of this for us please
but then this whole BC thing doesnt make sense to me....I was under the impression if you are ER/PR + and HER 2- then its better for you, HER2- is better than + as the HER2 Plus only have Herception and Tykerb to take not many choices is there ? and tykerb isnt on the PBS sucks this does,...


oz

[lesleydonna]

Nav i dont make sense of any of it

[chrismelb]

I'm triple +++.

[yowyow]

Oz, from all I have read and I have read a bit - trip negs ... mainly african american over 50 years old
and white woman under or around 40 ...... anyone make sense of that ?