This is probably a silly question but here it goes... Am I right in saying that, before menopause, your estrogen levels are relatively high and that, once you start/finish menopause, the these levels fall? So that is why many women take an estrogen supplement during and after menopause, right? So, does that mean that, before menopause, you are more likely to get estrogen dependent bc (and the percentage will be higher) and that afterwards, with the estrogen levels having fallen, if you get bc, the rate of estrogen-dependent bc will be less and if it is estrogen dependent, the % will be lower? I was dx last year with DCIS (medium & high grade, multicentric) shortly after my 50th birthday when I was still having regular periods. Since then I have had eratic periods and have only had one light one in 8 months. A blood test last week confirmed that I am menopausal. My bc was 84% for estrogen. Does that mean that, now that I have less estrogen in my body, there is less chance of getting a new primary bc in my remaining breast? I hope this all makes sense!
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MarieKelly Joined: Oct 2007 Posts: 114 |
May 9, 2008 03:03 pm
MarieKelly wrote:
You asked - "So, does that mean that, before menopause, you are more likely to get estrogen dependent bc (and the percentage will be higher) and that afterwards, with the estrogen levels having fallen, if you get bc, the rate of estrogen-dependent bc will be less and if it is estrogen dependent, the % will be lower?" Actually, the incidence of estrogen dependent BC if higher in those diagnosed AFTER menopause and the incidence of estrogen NON-dependent BC is higher in pre-menopausal women. Normal breast tissue in young, pre-menopausal women always has estrogen receptors, but the percentage levels are fairly low - something like 5-15%. As we age, the percentage of estrogen receptors increases so that by the time we reach menopause and beyond, it's a higher percentage than when we were young. If you think about it a moment, it makes perfect sense that estrogen receptors would increase proportionately to decreasing endogenous levels of circulating estrogen. If there's less estrogen to be had, producing more receptors allows the breast tissue better odds at latching on to what little estrogen is available. You asked - "My bc was 84% for estrogen. Does that mean that, now that I have less estrogen in my body, there is less chance of getting a new primary bc in my remaining breast? I hope this all makes sense!" The overall incidence of breast cancer is highest in older women, and it increases with advancing age. So just simply being older puts us at an increased risk of developing breast cancer as compared to younger, pre-menopausal women. That being said however, being in a menopausal state is advantageous should another primary estrogen receptor positive breast cancer happen to develop, but I really don't think that just being in menopause automatically lowers the risk of a new primary. Dx 2/22/2004, IDC, <1cm, Stage Ib, Grade 1, 0/1 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2- |
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geebung Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 986 |
May 9, 2008 05:59 pm
geebung wrote:
Thanks Marie, you explained that really well. There is so much to learn about this disease and questions keep popping up. This is a great place to get answers. gb |
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louishenry Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 193 |
May 9, 2008 06:06 pm
louishenry wrote:
Interesting...I'm 46, not really young, but not quite menopausal. My numbers were 98 % er, 99% pr. Do you think it's because I am closer to menopause? Would I have had much lower numbers if I got DCIS ten years ago? Thanks for any info, Nada Dcis May 2007, 4mm, low to intermediate grade, no rads er / pr +. Tamoxifen September 2007
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MarieKelly Joined: Oct 2007 Posts: 114 |
May 10, 2008 09:19 am
MarieKelly wrote:
Nada, Apparently for some yet unknown reason, it appears that that correlation between increasing age and the increasing percentage of ER receptors seen in normal breast tissue and some invasive disease ceases to be true regarding certain conditions, particulary ADH and interestingly, DCIS as well. Obviously DCIS, though non-invasive, is still a cancer. So finding an increase in the normally low percentage of breast receptors often found in cancerous breast tissue doesn't really seem all that surprising. But ADH ISN'T considered cancer, yet both young and old with ADH apparently have abnormally high levels of estrogen receptors just like those found with advancing age, DCIS and and invasive disease. Another one of those oddities they haven't quite figured out yet!! Information I've read says that the percentage of ER+ cells in both ADH and DCIS (except for grade 3) is generally very high even in younger women. So essentially with DCIS, whether one is young or old, the tendency is to find a high percentage of ER receptors in ER+ disease with the exception of high grade DCIS which is most often either receptor negative or showing relatively low levels of receptor positivity. So in a nutshell, if you had been diagnosed with DCIS 10 years earlier, it probably wouldn't have been any different. Here's a link to some research that talks about this - http://breast-cancer-research.com/paperreport/bcr-1999-66593 Dx 2/22/2004, IDC, <1cm, Stage Ib, Grade 1, 0/1 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2- |
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louishenry Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 193 |
May 10, 2008 09:31 am
louishenry wrote:
Thanks, Marie. Dcis May 2007, 4mm, low to intermediate grade, no rads er / pr +. Tamoxifen September 2007
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