receptor status

[ally44]

Hi,I am aged 44 in good health,had lumpectomy, 2 and half cm tumour,13 lymph nodes removed December 2010,3 nodes were cancerous.Diagnosed TNBC
I am about to have my 3rd of 8 chemo treatments,4 x EC then 4 x Taxotere.
I am trying to understand some of the paperwork Ive been given from the hospital,I live in Germany and have had real problems with the language barrier.My question is regarding Receptor Status,
My paperwork says, Oestrogen,Progesterone,c-erbB-2HER-2/neu negative.I understand this gives me the TNBC status, what I dont understand or know anything about is: p53 negative and Proliferation marker Ki67 ; in 50% of the tumour cell nuclei positive (high proliferation activity.
I would be very grateful if you could explain this to me.
Thankyou
allison


This discussion is related to Adjuvant Online.

[bluebutterfly2222]

Hi again,

You are welcome.

I am also going to send you a personal message with a link to an online with two experts about TNBC.  It's a couple of years old, but still may be of interest to anyone wanting to learn more about TNBC. (Hope the link still works...)

How are you doing with your chemo, by the way?

Keep us posted on your progress--we care!

Regards,
bb

[ally44]

Hi,thank you for answering my question.This is a whole new learning process for me,
Allison.

[bluebutterfly2222]

BTW, that you are negative for the p53 gene mutation is a favorable factor:

"Question: How about the p53 gene? Seems that the triple-negative is also commonly associated with the overexpression of p53. What significance does this gene play in the outcome of the treatment?

Answer:p53 has been called the “guardian of the genome.” That is to say p53's role in normal cells is to tell a cell to in essence commit suicide if its DNA has been damaged. In many cancers, but particularly in triple-negative breast cancers, p53 may be mutated and may no longer be performing the purpose intended by nature. Unfortunately, while we can measure p53 in cancer cells and while it is clear that mutated p53 is a poor prognostic factor in many human cancers, there is little we can do therapeutically about this problem at present, although this is an active area of pre-clinical research"

[bluebutterfly2222]

p53 is a gene sometimes involved with TNBC, but your test was negative for it.

(The BC Expert Forum is colsed, so thought I'd try to help here...)

Best wishes...

[ally44]

Thanks for your suggestion,I thought I had reposted this message to the expert forum and have just noticed its now repeated on here...grrrrr,think my brain is having an off day.
thank you for taking the time to reply.
beat wishes
Allison

[japdip]

May I suggest that you post your question on the "Expert" Forum where a Physician answers posts. The Dr. there would be more apt to understand the terminology used outside the U.S. .... I will say that ER/PR neg cancers are considered the more aggressive type.    Kindest regards ....