Letrozole & Radiotherapy = cholesterol

SRAPUBS

Hi,

I was diagnosed recently with ER+, HERS- BC - stage 1, grade 1. It was caught at 7mm with clear lymphs. I was lucky and after a day surgery and 5 days of local radiotherapy I was put on Letrozole. I've been taking it for 4 weeks now and my cholesterol has shot up to 7.1 already. One of the lymphs came up but biopsy was cancer negative and they think it might be a reaction to the radiotherapy. I know that both Letrozole and RT can raise cholesterol but I didn't expect it to go that high that quickly.

Has anyone else experienced this in such a short time frame ?

Thank you.

Mavericksmom

Yes, mine went way up quickly too. I don’t know exactly how many weeks after I started Letrozole because it was two years ago, but that is the reason I stopped taking it. I have a higher risk of heart disease than breast cancer even though I had breast cancer twice. I didn’t have radiation this time, mine was all due to Letrozole. After I stopped it my cholesterol levelwent back to normal. Your oncologist should be able to help get your cholesterol under control.