Poor prognosis?

Does er/pr-, her2+ make for a poor prognosis?

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear sltennis:  ER/PR- tumors tend to be more aggressive than ER/PR+ tumors.  Likewise, HER2+ tumors tend to be more aggressive than HER2- tumors.  The conclusion:  ER/PR- combined with HER2+ would be poor prognositic indicators.  However, this information must be combined with other information about the cancer and the individual.  Also, this information should be considered only in terms of treatment decisions.  It is not helpful and cannot predict any specifics regarding survival.

Based on this question and your post of 8/8/02, you seem to be very focused on prognosis.  While this information is important in terms of treatment decisions and making informed choices, NO one can predict how long a person will live, who will get good responses to treatment and who will not do well, specifically.  Prognostic information is formulated based on groups of people, not individuals.  It will likely be more helpful to your and your loved ones to shift your focus to treatment responses, survival, quality of life, and day to day living.