Quick Links
Resources
About MyBCTeam
Powered By
Have you or a loved one recently been diagnosed with stage 1 HER2-positive breast cancer? It’s normal to feel overwhelmed, and there’s a lot to take in. The good news is that this type of breast cancer is highly treatable. In the last 20 years, new treatments have been developed that work very well. With new therapies, more than 90 percent of people with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer now survive.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the most important facts you need to know about stage 1 HER2-positive breast cancer. We’ll cover diagnosis, treatment options, survival rates, and what to expect moving forward. As always, your oncologist can help you understand details about your condition.
HER2-positive breast cancer is a type of invasive breast cancer that produces too much of a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). This protein controls cell growth, which means that when it’s overproduced, cancer cells multiply quickly.
Although HER2-positive cancer is aggressive, modern treatments can block the HER2 protein and stop the cancer from growing. This makes HER2-positive breast cancer much more treatable than it was in the past.
Subtypes of breast cancer are based on certain proteins and genes found in cancer cells through lab tests. A key factor in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment is determining the tumor’s HER2 status.
In HER2-positive breast cancer, the cancer grows faster because it makes too much of the HER2 protein. In HER2-negative cases, the cancer doesn’t make too much of the HER2 protein, so it needs a different treatment plan.
Your doctor will also test you for hormone receptor (HR) status. This test will help them see if the cancer depends on estrogen receptors (ERs) or progesterone receptors (PRs) to grow. If the tumor is HER2-positive and HR-positive, hormone therapy may be part of your treatment plan.
About 15 percent to 20 percent of people diagnosed with breast cancer have HER2-positive breast cancer. This makes it one of the most common types of breast cancer in women. It can develop at any age. However, it’s more common in younger women than HER2-negative cases, according to the Journal of Personalized Medicine.
Doctors don’t fully understand what causes HER2-positive breast cancer. However, certain risk factors may increase the chance of developing it. The Moffitt Cancer Center notes that some of the biggest risk factors include:
Even if you have some or all of these risk factors, it doesn’t mean you’ll get breast cancer. It’s also possible to get HER2-positive cancer even if you don’t have any risk factors.
In the early stages of breast cancer, there may not be any obvious symptoms, and there are no particular symptoms or signs associated with HER2-positive breast cancer. However, if symptoms do occur, they may include:
In most cases, breast cancer is diagnosed after an abnormal mammogram. If your mammogram shows an abnormal area, a biopsy will be recommended. Biopsy involves taking a small sample of breast tissue and testing for cancer cells. A biopsy is also a necessary step in finding out your HER2 status and HR status.
Doctors will then use specific laboratory tests to examine biopsied tissue to determine the HER2 and HR status of your cancer cells. These tests help doctors choose the treatments that are most likely to work for your type of cancer. The most common tests are immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).
The IHC test measures the HR status and how much HER2 protein is found on the surface of breast cancer cells. The cancer cells are graded based on what they show under a microscope. Depending on how they look, the cells receive a grade from 0 to 3+. A score of 3+ means the cancer is HER2-positive. A score of 2+ is considered borderline and usually needs more testing. New evidence shows that a score of 2+ might be treated as negative in some cases. A score of 0 to 1+ means the cancer is HER2-negative.
FISH testing is more precise. It can detect extra copies of the HER2 gene, which controls how much HER2 protein cells produce. This test uses a special dye that binds to the HER2 gene in the breast cancer cells. The sample is looked at under a microscope to count the extra gene copies.
Treatment options for HER2-positive breast cancer may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy, or a combination of some or all of these treatments. Your oncology team will recommend breast cancer treatments based on details about your specific cancer cells and health condition.
According to the American Cancer Society, the primary treatment for stage 1 breast cancer is surgery. This might be a lumpectomy (removing just the tumor) or a mastectomy (removing the entire breast). Surgery may be used in combination with other treatments like targeted therapy, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy.
Most people with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer will be treated with drugs that target the HER2 protein directly. Some of these include:
Many people get chemotherapy after surgery to help lower the risk of the cancer coming back. This is especially important for HER2-positive breast cancer, where the main worry is that the cancer might return. Some people may also receive chemotherapy before surgery to shrink tumors. Common chemotherapy drugs include paclitaxel and carboplatin.
If your cancer is HR-positive as well as HER2-positive, your doctor may recommend hormone therapy to block hormone receptors. Hormone therapy may include drugs like tamoxifen, which blocks estrogen from attaching to cancer cells, or aromatase inhibitors, which lower the amount of estrogen in the body.
Survival rates for people with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer have improved dramatically in recent decades. The National Cancer Institute describes breast cancer survival based on local, regional, and distant categories. Localized cancer means the cancer is confined to the area in which it was originally found. In stage 1, the cancer is localized. Regional and distant describe later stages, when cancer has spread.
Five-year survival rates are used to describe the percentage of people who are still alive five years after their diagnosis. For people with HER2-positive and HR-positive localized breast cancer, the five-year survival rate is greater than 99 percent. For HER2-positive and HR-negative localized breast cancer, it’s more than 95 percent.
With modern treatments, the long-term prognosis (outlook) for people with HER2-positive breast cancer has never been better. No matter how early your stage is, cancer is scary. However, early intervention is key to getting the best outcome. Be sure to follow up with your healthcare team regularly to keep track of your health and manage any side effects that may result from your treatment.
MyBCTeam is the social network for people with breast cancer and their loved ones. On MyBCTeam, more than 78,000 members come together to ask questions, give advice, and share their stories with others who understand life with breast cancer.
If you’ve completed treatment for stage 1 HER2-positive breast cancer, do you have any tips for those newly diagnosed? Share your experience in the comments below, or start a conversation by posting on your Activities page.
Join
Your privacy is our priority.
