Oncologist talks importance of HER-2 status for breast cancer patients

JACKSON, Tenn. — 1 in 8 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.

For many, the diagnoses does not end there.

Up to 30% of early stage breast cancer cases will later progress to metastatic disease. This means it spreads to other parts of the body.

It is important to know the HER-2 status of the tumor. This is a biomarker that helps doctors understand how a cancer may behave.

“In the past, we used to say that tumors were either HER-2 positive or HER-2 negative. Now we know that HER-2 can be expressed as a spectrum. In other words, some tumors have low levels of expression of HER-2 and others have high levels of expression of HER,” said Dr. Edith Perez, oncologist.

This helps doctors guide more personalized treatment decisions.

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