prognosis

I have an aunt recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She is her2/neu and progestin positive and estrogen negative. She had a mastectomy and was found to have 23 positive out of 25 nodes. The cancer was invasive and 7 cm's in size. The final pathology is not back yet. I realize many of these signs are rather ominous. Roughly, what is her chance percentage of survival at 5 years? Also, is there a genetic link in a her2/neu lesion?

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear Eltajin:  You are describing stage lll breast cancer.  It appears that her2/neu positive tumors may be more aggressive.  This may explain the size and extent of her disease.  Having said that, there are many good treatments for breast cancer and, from what you say, the disease has been removed and adjuvant therapy is indicated.  The five year survival rates range from 42% - 56%.  Her2/neu is an epidermal growth factor.  The genetic alteration is called amplification.  Instead of having one copy, the cell makes many copies of this gene causing too many her2/neu receptors.