Survival stage III - A 4 her 2 nue

[jonewman]

My wife has been diagnosed with stage III A breast cancer.  15 of 20 node positive and a fish score of 4+.  She has just completed 12 weeks of AC chemo treatment.  She will begin 16 weeks of taxol with herceptin with the herceptin running an additional 36 weeks.  I have been told that this is the best treatment for her situation.  How will this treatment affect her life expectancy?  How great are the odds of reoccurence, and what kind of survival statistics can be expected.

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear jonewman:  AC + taxol is considered standard of care for breast cancer situations such as your wife's. Her disease is advanced and, although we don't know all the details, she has at least two factors indicating a high risk for recurrence - roughly 80% within 10 years.  The AC + taxol will approximately double her chances of 10 year survival.  Herceptin is still experimental.  It is postulated that herceptin will help in women who are HER 2 positive but at this point the impact is unknown.