Hello Dotty,

I am one of the enquiry nurses. Steph our moderator, asked if we could have a read of your post and explain anything.

There are different features of breast cancer and these are assessed by pathologists in the laboratory from a tissue examination. Together with the stage (size and extent of a breast cancer) these features help the doctors to decide on the best approach to treatment.

Really what you have asked about is just some medical shorthand that is used by specialists to describe different types of  breast cancer. I can give you a brief description of the terms used, but you may not be much the wiser, as your own team really need to pull it all altogether for you. I am sure your specialist will be more than happy to explain things so please do ask. If you have a breast care nurse do get in touch with them.  Medical language can be quite baffling and you don’t need to fully understand all the terms the doctors use, of course many people want to know, but don't let them worry you. 

ER stands for oestrogen receptor (the American spelling for oestrogen is estrogen, hence the ‘e’). This is a female hormone which women have in their bodies.  A receptor is part of a cell that something else can ‘lock into’ and stimulate. In breast cancer cells with receptors for oestrogen, the body's oestrogen can encourage the cancer to grow, so a test is done to look for oestrogen receptors. The test score is up to 8. Women who are oestrogen positive have hormone therapy to block oestrogen or stop it from being made. 

PR stands for progesterone receptor. Progesterone is another natural female hormone. If a woman is ER positive she would have hormone therapy whatever her PR score.  

HER2 stands for human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2).  HER2 is a protein that makes cells grow and divide. Some breast cancers have large amounts of HER2 protein and are called HER2 positive cancers. HER2 positive breast cancers are treated with specific medicines that lock onto HER2 in the cancer cells.

Grade describes how abnormal cancer cells look under the microscope. The more abnormal they look, the higher the grade of the cancer. Breast cancer are graded from 1 to 3.  Knowing the grade helps the doctors decide how much treatment to give. 

‘Luminal B’ is one of five groups that breast cancers with common characteristics are put into. Luminal breast cancers are oestrogen positive.

Breast cancer treatment involves a combination of several approaches, and can include breast conserving surgery with radiotherapy afterwards and additional treatments such as chemotherapy, hormone therapy and HER2 directed treatment. I am not sure where things are at the moment and if you have started or are due to have any treatment. I hope that whatever is planned goes smoothly.  

If you want to look things up for yourself you could try our website, the breast cancer section is here and another UK charity Breast Cancer Care provides information and support. But do talk to your own team too when you can.  

Julia

Thankyou for the information, I will have a look at it.

Regards

Dotty

Hi Dotty. It's the worst news possible when you are just diagnosed. All negative thoughts go through your mind. Yes it's not nice but you are one of the lucky ones in that your cancer is treatable. I was diagnosed 2013. Her2 grade 3. I was terrified however during my treatment I met ladies who had been diagnosed pre Herceptin being available to early stage patients. The cancer came back. However they are being treated with Herceptin and ten years plus they are going strong. Working looking after their families. There will always be the unlucky ladies and no one knows who they will be. I feel lucky that I got the treatment and do far so good. So hang in there. You will become more confident as time goes by and remember if there is a recurrence you will go back on Herceptin. So good luck and take care. WA