Taking Femara for more than 7 years?

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BCSurvivor70
BCSurvivor70 Member Posts: 2
edited June 2014 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned

My mother has had breast cancer twice.  After her first occurance, she was on Tamoxifen for 5 years.  After 5 years, she took no other aromtase inhibitor.  In the sixth year after her first occurance, she had a recoccruance.  After the second masctomy she started taking Femera.  She is cancer free for last seven years.  She is deciding whether to stop taking Femara or continue taking it.  She has suffered from some bone loss but through diet and exercise has minimized the loss.  Is anyone else taking Femera for longer than 7 years?  

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  • clariceak
    clariceak Member Posts: 752
    edited September 2012

    It might be helpful to know more about your mother's staging.  As a stage IIIC, my onc said I will be on Femera "indefinitely".  She has prescribed Zometa for bone loss, and also as a possible preventative against bone mets.

    It sounds as though her bc responds strongly to aromtase inhibitors. Is her onc recommending she stop Femera?

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  • BCSurvivor70
    BCSurvivor70 Member Posts: 2
    edited September 2012

    Thank you for your note and sharing your experiences.  Did you ever find any research done on the long term use of Femara after 5 years or more of use? 

    I'm not sure what her staging is, however it was caught early both times.  She has an appt with onc on 9/13.  Her gyn suggested she stay on Femara and add Elvista to prevent further bone loss.  I didn't see any research on whether there would be any side effects from using both at the same time.  She's taken a biophosphinate in the past (can't recall the name) but it caused damage to her esophogus and diagestive track.  She is concerned about going off an aromtase inhibitor, but it concerned about long term use of Femara..joint pain, memory loss, mental fogginess...if it's not doing anything for her after 7 years should she still keep taking it and put up with side effects...that is the question...We'll see what the onc says...

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  • clariceak
    clariceak Member Posts: 752
    edited September 2012

    Actually I don't think Femera has been used that long so I'm not sure if the effects of long range use has been studied. There are also a number of women who have been given a 5 year limit on use of Femera. Many younger women with a late stage cancer are willing to continue Femera and other AIs, but in your mother's case the benefits might not be great enough to warrant continued use.

    It might be worth asking her onc how receptive her cancer was to estrogren.  The fact that she has had breast cancer twice may be influencing the onc's directive.  It is worth considering the possible long term side effects of bone strengtheners like Zometa which seem to cause more jawbone necrosis than originally predicted.

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