HeR2 status. Your pathology report usually includes the cancer’s HER2 status. The HER2 gene is responsible for making HER2 proteins. These proteins are receptors on breast cells. Under normal circumstances, HER2 receptors help control how a breast cell grows, divides, and repairs itself. But in about 25% of breast cancers, the HER2 gene can become abnormal and make too many copies of itself (amplification of the HER2 gene). Amplified HER2 genes command breast cells to make too many receptors (overexpression of the HER2 protein). When this happens, the overexpressed HER2 receptors shout at (rather than talk to) the breast.
