hormones

tam1953

hormones

tam1953

I'm freaked out. I have just completed my recontruction TRAM surgery for stage one breast cancer. I am very grateful for my health and for my friends who helped me through the process. Now my best friend, who has been there for me most, confesses she has started on hormone replacement therapy. She also started having abnormal mammograms 6 months ago and is seeing an absolutely incompetent physician. I have pleaded with her to please -- at least be evaluated by someone who is up to date with current information about prescribing these dangerous drugs, but she will not listen. I told her I will quite nagging her if they are prescribed by someone younger than 80. (Her current physician is 82 and should not be practicing). What else can I do?

Sashiko

Hi Tam.,

I have an acquaintance here in Aust. who has advanced bc. in her bones as well and her onc. has been giving her horomone treatment ONLY for the last 3 months.

NO surgery, no chemo no rads.  It would never have done me.  I saw my gp at 11 am was diagnosed then saw the surgeon at 1.0 pm and was under the knife at 1.30p.m the very next day. 

The theory seems to be that the hormone pill will shrink the cancers and therefore make it easier for surgery.  But what about the risk or further spreading.??

 This lass is only 50 and my heart aches for her.

I guess we each have to make our own informed decisions.

Good luck to you,

Sashiko

BethL

I've never heard of HRTs shrinking cancer.  If anything they can help fuel cancer, especially hormone receptor positive cancers.  You are right to ask her to see someone else.  Is she married or involved with anyone?  Maybe you can speak to her husband or significant other about this and try and get support there.  She needs more follow up on the mammo too.  This is what friends are for, keep on her.

MarieKelly

High dose estrogen used to be one of the things they used for advanced breast cancer treatment prior to the advent of tamoxfen, and now they're starting to try that again in certain cases. As crazy as it sounds, you can actually treat some breast cancers by INCREASING the amount of estrogen the cells are exposed to.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=138731

tam1953

I'm sorry. I didn't explain my story very well. She's being treated with hormones for menpause symptoms, not breast cancer. She's never been diagnosed with breast cancer -- for some reason thinks she is one who will not get it. Her mammograms have changed recently and she is now taking HRT for menopause and I am worried aobut that. I've read that using HRT makes you at higher risk for breast cancer.

otter

I think the theory is that the estrogen (estradiol?) acts sort of like "bait", and it accelerates the growth of the tumor cells...and they become more sensitive to chemotherapy and/or estrogen blockade.  Some people think that when a tumor becomes tamoxifen-resistant (which does happen quite a bit), feeding it a little estrogen might cause it to revert back to estrogen-dependency and tamox sensitivity.

Sounds scary, but who knows?  OTOH, a very long time ago (like maybe during the career of an 82-year-old doc), estradiol was used to "treat" BC. Of course, they used to use thalidomide to treat morning sickness, and see how well that turned out?

otter