Any have hormone tests before starting homonal therapy?

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Baballou
Baballou Member Posts: 15
edited June 2014 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

I haven't reached the point when I am prescribed hormonal therapy, but am probably approaching that discussion with my Onc, so I admit that I am not well-informed on the subject.  I'll dive into it once I'm done reading about radiation therapy.  ;-)

Once I found out my cancer was hormone receptor positive, my first thought was, "I wonder whether I even have much estrogen and/or progesterone?"  I previously took bioidentical hormones, so I know that in past years I tested extremely low in both hormones. If the hormones I was taking (minute amounts, btw) were fueling the cancer, I would think that would be significant in considering hormone-blocking therapy.  My onc has never even asked whether I've taken HRT.

In weighing the risks and benefits of hormonal therapy, wouldn't it make sense to find out whether you  produce a ton of hormones or whether they are practically absent from your body?  It seems logical that the objective is to make sure estrogen and progesterone are not fueling any cancer cells - handing out prescriptions being just one way of reaching that objective. 

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  • MelissaDallas
    MelissaDallas Member Posts: 7,268
    edited June 2014

    Even menopausal women & women with no ovaries take Aromatase inhibitors because your body converts androgens to estrogen even when your ovaries aren't making it anymore. Any level of estrogen is fuel for estrogen positive breast cancer so they don't measure how much.

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  • muska
    muska Member Posts: 1,195
    edited June 2014

    Actually, sometimes they do measure hormone levels, e.g. before prescribing aromatase inhibitors to confirm that you are in fact in menopause. That was my case, I had a blood test.

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  • Kicks
    Kicks Member Posts: 4,131
    edited June 2014

    Our bodies produce estrogen even post menopause.  It is in many things we eat also.  I was 19 yrs post natural menopause when DXd ER+.  I did try HRT for a very few months because with my family history of osteoporosis my PA wanted me to but did not like it at all so only did a very few months back in the mid '90's.

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  • MelissaDallas
    MelissaDallas Member Posts: 7,268
    edited June 2014

    Yes, to make sure you are menopausal or not, but I don't think just to see how high your estrogen level is to try to see if the drugs are beneficial or not. 

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  • islandmom
    islandmom Member Posts: 191
    edited June 2014

    I have been taking Tamoxifen for over three years now. Every year my oncologist tests my blood for FSH and LH to see if I am menopausal. I have not had a period since I was in my 30's because I had an endometrial ablation.

    I am 51 and I have been having hot flashes since my early 40's, so I assumed that I was deep into menopause, but my blood indicates otherwise. I will continue with Tamoxifen for now.

    1) Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) blood test

    • Women who are still menstruating: 4.7 - 21.5 mIU/ml
    • After menopause: 25.8 - 134.8 mIU/ml

    2) Luteinizing hormone (LH) blood test

    • Before menopause: 5 to 25 IU/L
    • Level peaks even higher around the middle of the menstrual cycle
    • Level then becomes higher in women after menopause: 14.2- to 52.3 IU/L
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  • Baballou
    Baballou Member Posts: 15
    edited June 2014

    Thanks for sharing your specific blood test results.  I have requested copies of my test results.

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