TN or ER positive?

swmmom

I was diagnosed with highly ER,PR+Her2- stage 2 cancer in 2007. My treatment included lumpectomy, radiation, 4 ACT plus 5 years of Arimidex. 4 months short of completing arimidex therapy, I  was diagnosed with secondary cancer on the same breast on 08/2103. My mammogram was negative, but I didn't feel comfortable since the radiated breast tissue is dense and pushed for MRI, which thankfully caught the cancer.Imagine if I didn't ask for MRI!!

My second cancer was less than 1cm, but this time it was triple negative so I had to go through chemo again(6 doses of CT) and had double mastectomy. Hormone receptors were done on the tissue that was taken out during biopsy and showed me as TN.  Since the tumor was in the same spot as my original ER+ positive tumor, I asked my oncologist if it'd be possible to retest the hormone receptors on the mastectomy tissue. He agreed. Well, he called me yesterday saying, I was smart to ask for second testing because now the test shows I am 10-30% positive(quick test results:3/8) for ER and wants me to start Tamoxifen. I am still on Arimidex for my first ER+ cancer and now he wants me to stop taking Arimidex and start Tamoxifen therapy.

I'm confused as heck. Does this mean I am no longer TN? I thought Aromatese inhibitors were better than Tamoxifen. I can see him trying a diffrent drug since Arimidex apperantly didn't work, but why Tamoxifen?

bak94

I am 3% er positive and my doc wants my on tamoxifen. He says any positive is positive, but all doctors do not agree on this.As far as which is better, I have no idea. Mine started me on an AI first, I couldn't tolerate it and so he switched it to tamox. I couldn't tolerate it either before my hysterectomy so I quit taking it. He wants me to start up again. I just don't know if it is worth all the side effects for 3 percent.