Luminal A and radiation

Freebee

Hello Ladies,

I have seen a few studies which stated that RADs may not benefit early stage luminal A women over 55 - LMX and hormone therapy is sufficient. I haven’t seen enough evidence to decline rads, but I thought I would put it out there for discussion.

I am still recovering from a large hematoma post LMX. I have little appetite for further trauma. I wonder about delaying RADs. I’ve heard the optimal window is 8-12 weeks.

Your thoughts appreciated.

Cheer

Moderators

BUMP for FreeBee -- does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Salamandra

I've seen doctors thinking about not requiring women 70 and over to have radiation. I think the thinking is that their life expectancy is already shorter (fewer years for the cancer to return) and their health can be more fragile. That said, I met a 78 year old at my radiation treatment who said her doctors insisted that she have the radiation after lumpectomy, although they let her skip the hormones.

The benefit from radiation is mostly against local recurrence. Although there is some benefit to overall survival, it is small.

Can you weigh the trauma of radiation now against the trauma of another round of finding a recurrence (let's say best case scenario, local, small, favorable hormones, etc) and the treatment for that later?

Can you link where you've seen about skipping rads for women 55+?

In the end, they can't make you do rads. But I would be pretty surprised if you found a doctor who was on board with skipping it completely, barring some pretty specific circumstances (like significant prior radiation in the area).

Good luck!

pupmom

Radiation was the easiest part of my treatment. I got tired toward the end, and my skin started to itch, but creams they gave me helped a lot. Don't know about any new guidelines, but for me the main negative for radiation was having to be there 5 days a week.

Freebee

Thank you Ladles for sharing your thoughts. I’ve seen a few different reports regarding luminal A and radiation. There is currently a study examining 55+ at the Prince Margaret Cancer Centre. Unfortunately, the findings will not be released for a while.

Meow13

Interesting in Washington state, my 75 year old neighbor had radiation for a similar diagnosis 1cm tumor. The radiation was targeted and not whole breast radiation.

mammalou

My 85 year old mother just had radiation. She did great!