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My surgeon seemed not to want to do a Lumpectomy without, in my case, doing some hormone therapy. My lump is large and I just want it to be gone. I don't want to take hormones because I dred the side effects. (I am 72 and don't want to prolong being comfortable) Why do you think he is so hesitant, in general. I broke my femur and hip early November (right after I was diagnosed) and am finally good enough to go back to my oncologist. So the meter will start running in a week or so.
Answer Summary
Members offered thoughtful perspectives on whether hormone therapy is necessary after lumpectomy for hormone-positive breast cancer, with the... Read more
Grace are do you know if you’re estrogen or progesterone positive? After having my lumpectomy, I was a little nervous about Radiation and then after that, I was nervous about taking the estrogen blocker, however, they have both been pretty easy and the main reason I decided to go with an estrogen blocker is because I don’t want it coming back and my tumor was estrogen fed. I saw quite a few others on this site that didn’t take the blocker and then it came back so I just wanna make sure I can do everything I can to stop it from reoccurring.
The first time I had breast cancer in 2017 it was hormone positive and I had a double mastectomy. My risk of recurrence was low and I did not need radiation or chemo and was given the choice on taking an AI so I passed on the AI due to the side effects. You know what they say about hindsight and I wish now that I would have taken an AI cause then maybe I wouldn't have gotten breast cancer a 2nd time. My cancer returned 7.5 years later, was very aggressive hormone positive stage 3C cancer with 3 lumps and 2 lymph nodes from my chest and 14 of 16 lymph nodes removed from my armpit that were cancerous. I had 3 surgeries, 6 months of chemo, 4 weeks of radiation, and now need to take an AI for the rest of my life and take a CDK inhibitor for 3 years. My 5 year odds of cancer returning are 50% without the medications and 30% with the medications. I am now 59 years old and have been dealing with cancer for 9 years.
With hormone positive breast cancer you are at risk of it returning because your cancer is fed by the estrogen and/or progesterone hormones that your body produces. If it is a fairly large tumor the doctor probably wants you to take an AI to reduce your risk of the cancer returning due to your bodies hormone production, especially if you are only having a lumpectomy because that ups the odds that some cancer cells will be left behind in what remains of your breast after surgery. If the lump is that big and your cancer is a low grade non-agressive cancer you might be able to avoid taking an AI if you have a mastectomy instead. Odds are good if you only have a lumpectomy that the doctor will want you to take an AI and have radiation to give you the best odds that all the cancer cells in your breast have been killed and that your hormone production is stopped so you are not feeding any potential cancer cells that may pop up later on.
Please talk to your oncology doctor or nurse navigator and ask them to go into more detail about what they advise would be your best treatment options. Ask what your 5 year recurrence odds are and ask what your 5 year survivial odds are with each of your various treatment options. These are hard questions to ask, but they will help give you more information so you can make the best possible choice for you and your future. Breast cancer is overwhelming and confusing, especially at first, so if you don't understand what they are telling you then ask questions until they explain things in a way that makes sense to you. Good luck to you on whatever you decide to do ❤️
@A MyBCTeam Member excellent explanation!
@A MyBCTeam Member I was 72 y/o when I got diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2020.
Just like @A MyBCTeam Member I took all the treatments that my oncologist suggested for the fear of the cancer coming back.
By the way I experienced very minimal side effects with Letrozole (hormone blocker).
I do exercise and walk every day and try to eat healthy.
Please do talk with your doctor.
Good luck with your decision..
Sending hugs and prayers.
I am 100%er+, IIa, grade 3. Definitely doing hormone therapy. I'm 65 and planned on a long and fun life so doing everything I can to slow recurrence. If you make it through chemo and radiation, keep moving forward. That's my philosophy 😊.
The decision is always yours. I would at least give it a try if it improves your chances. Sending loads of💕💕💕
Hi Grace....I'm glad that it helped and you're better prepared to talk to the doctor. Good luck with your appointment next week ❤️
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