pre-menopausal ILC

For me, it depended on which oncologist I was talking to. My first onc, with whom I did my chemo/rads, wanted me to do 5 years of Tamoxifen, followed by an oophrectomy and then 5 years of an AI. I switched to a different onc for my followup care, and she just has me on the 5 years of Tamoxifen, no other treatment. Her theory is that it's good for the body to function as normally as possible, and I'm in agreement with her. My period came back about a year after chemo ended. I'm done having kids and will be 44 when I come off of Tamoxifen, but am comfortable with my onc's approach.

 My tumor was moderately ER/PR positive--the situation may be different for a premenopausal woman with a highly ER/PR tumor.

Hi

I have lupron shots to shut down my ovaries and take femara.  This was because i could not take tamoxifen because I had a prior blood clot..... I am 2 years in--no one thought I should take out my ovaries--this seems to work because you have to be in menopause for the AI's to work... so I am there temporarily....

debbsie.....My onc talked about ooph right from the start.....I had multiple tumors and was in the lymph nodes even prior to surgery.....the only unknown at the time of bilat was rads......both surgeons recommended bilat and onc concurred with this....good thing as prophy side was pre-cancerous......My treatment protocol was bilat, TAC chemo, rads, AI's ooph....I was perimenopausal at time of Dx....just 3 months shy of the big 50!!!  I don't regret having my ovaries out....it is hard being slammed into menopause, but at going on 55, I would probably be menopausal anyways...

I was 43 when I had chemo and was pre meno. My periods never came back and my ovaries are so small that the GYN can barely tell I have any. I think it really depends on the doctor. Hugs, Mazy

Debbsie,

As far as I can see, there is no rhyme or reason to the oophs.  This is of course aside from the BRCA+ carriers.  I know two women who had the ooph at the same time as their lump or mastectomy.  And some who have never spoken of it with their docs.  Those darn ovaries are a double edged sword, supplying the E+ tumors with their fuel, and at the same time, protecting our bones and heart.  I was peri meno @ dx @ 50.  Now all the parts are gone, due to some other problems

Debbsie, I think it depends on how advanced your cancer is and possibly how close you are to going into natural menopause anyway.  Early stagers seem to be spared this type of recommendation.  I was perimenopausal at diagnosis and nobody ever even suggested this as a treatment.  I didn't even know it was done until I started reading posts on here.  It would have been out of the question for me if anyone had suggested it, as I don't think it's a good thing to remove healthy ovaries.  Nash, I like the way your Onc thinks, she looks at the whole body, not just the cancer.

As it turns out, I think I'm postmenopausal now anyway, was 47 at diagnosis, now 50, and last period was 15 months ago.  My lab values however, don't show postmenopausal range, so it could be partially a tamoxifen induced menopause.  So I'm curious to know if it would reverse once I stop the tamoxifen.

Shari

I hav been doing lupron for about 2 years now--once a month shot---takes about 2 minutes at the gyn office---- and the main effect is to shut down my ovaries so I can take an AI---it took me about 6 months to adjust to se's and now things are pretty much fine, but the beginning was hard----- I just talked to onc about it the other day-she said average age of menopause is 52-so I have to stay on the lupron for a little longer----

 I have seemingly healthy ovaries so I wanted to hang on to them-so this works for now. You could try the shots for a few months, then if you find it too hard, you could have the ooph.  As one onc said to me, you can always take things out , but you cannot put them back"

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I like the idea that mommaand2kids has - try the shots and if the SEs are too much then go the ooph route.  Since I'm BRCA2+ it made sense to do the BSO.  The surgery was easy and since I'd already been in chemopause with hot flashes I didn't notice anything else.  But there is nothing wrong hanging on to functioning, healthy body parts!  I was asked if I wanted my uterus out along with the ovaries but since it is healthy and doesn't cause me any problems my answer was 'NO!'.  Enough is enough.I