Hormones with mastectomy?

Trvler

I might be completely out in left field here but the thought of taking those hormones scares the crap out of me. I always figured when menopause hit if I had any issues, I could take a few hormones and be fine. Well, obviously that wouldn't an option with side effects from the drugs. So my question is, if you test negative for the BRAC 1 and 2 and you have a full mastectomy, do you really NEED the hormones?

Annette47

You wouldn't be taking hormones like you would to counteract the effects of menopause. You'd actually be taking anti-hormonals which act to suppress the effects of hormones. As for whether you need them with a bilateral mastectomy, that would depend on your risk of distance recurrence.

Trvler

Annette: Yeah, I get that. That maybe isn't the right name for them I guess.

So it is more on a case by case basis based on your risk of recurrence?

tangandchris

Yes, it all depends on your type of cancer and staging...and probably other things as well. Do you know what type of cancer you have and the stage?

Anonymous

I would discuss the risk/benefit with your oncologist.

The tamoxifen/AI's are to prevent recurrence...not in your breast necessarily, but metastasizing elsewhere. Mastectomy doesn't protect you from that. Plus they are never able to remove ALL of the breast tissue anyway.

It looks like you have hormone positive invasive cancer. Other things that could be of importance is whether or not you have positive lymph nodes, lymphovascular invasion, and your oncotype score... all things that aren't known until after surgery.

Nobody can force you to follow protocol, but make sure you are making an informed decision.