Anastrozole
Hi. looking for opinions. I was diagnosed with invasive carcinoma of breast the breast. My tumor was 4mm. I was HER negative. Estrogen Receptor 60%, Progesterone Receptor 40%, KI67 proliferation no longer marker 3%. I had a lumpectomy. When they did the surgery the tumor was already gone from the biopsy. Nothing spread to my lymph nodes They didn’t do testing for an onco type score because it was too small & the tumor was gone during the surgery. I did 20 rounds of radiation. Would you do the hormone therapy in this situation? My genetic testing also came back good . Really trying to decide what to do. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!
Comments
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Imruss,
This question comes up a lot. My first suggestion is to bring your concerns about this to your mo and really be honest about why you’re hesitating. Genetic testing is largely irrelevant since only a minority of bc cases are linked to genetic mutations. What they’re recommending, Anastrozole, is pretty much standard of care for your situation.
When reading through bco you are much more likely to find posts by folks having problems and side effects from AI’s. Those who have no, few, or diminishing side effects tend not to post nearly as much. Lastly, there is simply no way to predict in advance who will or won’t have side effects or the severity. I took each of the AI’s at one time or another for well over 12 years but managed the side effects for the most part ( about to start again, too!). Many people choose to start and are surprised by how well things go, others, not so much so they choose to stop.
For me, the bottom line when asking this question is if you will feel regret if you don’t take it and have a recurrence later. Clearly this is a very individual choice but it is always your choice. Take care0 -
Hi @lmruss, and welcome to Breastcancer.org!
We're so sorry for the reasons that bring you here, but we're really glad you've found us. As you can already see, our community is a wonderful source of advice, information, encouragement, and support — we're all here for you!
@exbrnxgrl offers a great response, and some information to ponder.
There's also some good insight here, to explain why it's beneficial to take hormonal therapy to prevent recurrence risk:
We hope this helps!
—The Mods
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I take anastrozole. I am in a similar situation. I had what was said to be 8mm ER+ PR- HER2- ILC, but was 4mm after biopsy. I had a lumpectomy and brachytherapy (targeted radiation) no chemo. No cancer in my lymph nodes. Nothing showed up on genetic testing. I don't like the side effects of the medication, but they are not enough to make me stop the med. I know that I want to do all I can do to lessen my risk of recurrence. You could always try it out and if the side effects are too much, switch the med or discontinue at that time.
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