TN and taking Tamoxifen? What has your experience been?

hap_k

OK, if I am as my onc keeps saying "mostly Triple Negative," I have a decision to make about taking Tamoxifen. My Grade 3 tumor, high proliferation rate, and Triple Negative status on two of my 3 genetic tests, made me decide to do chemo (taxotere & cytoxan) which I completed at the end of 2012 (now recovering from chemo side effects & getting ready for implant exchange). But I am still wondering about the Tamoxifen. Will it do any good if I have so few estrogen receptors? (Some studies have shown that when we take Tamoxifen, it indeed does a good job of keeping ER+ tumors from growing, but NOT ER negative tumors. Not a happy thought.)

If you're TN and taking Tamoxifen, what has your experience been?

Hap

christina1961

Hi Happy, I answered your other post.  Overall, I haven't had major problems from tamoxifen.  I am supposed to switch after a few years to an aromatase inhibitor.  I was premenopausal at diagnosis but chemo kicked my premenopausal state to the curb.  It's hard for us to become an expert on all this stuff overnight, isn't it?  I remember being so frustrated at having to make decisions about my life with what felt like rapid fire speed and limited information.  My radiation oncologist referred to taking tamoxifen like this:  he said, " if you have a weapon that would take out 5-10% of the army charging at you, wouldn't you want to use it?"