Need help with decision

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SusanGA
SusanGA Member Posts: 147
edited August 2017 in IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)

I am 70 yo and diagnosed on 4/14/17 with IDC .7mm ER+PR- Her 2- breast cancer. I am stage I grade 1 I am currently taking Arimidex with no trouble. My dilemma is my Oncotype DX was 23 followed by a Mamaprint that says high risk. I can't figure out whether or not to have chemo. My MO is excellent and we will be having an in depth discussion tomorrow. right now we are considering CMF due to the fact that I already have some peripheral neuropathy due to early stage diet controlled diabetes. So I am trying to figure out how bad the PR- thing is. I have read that it has high risk of recurrence. My ER is 98. So any ideas are greatly appreciated. I will do,what I have to do to give me the best chance. Thoughts? ( also had right mastectomy.)

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  • cive
    cive Member Posts: 709
    edited August 2017

    I wouldn't worry about the -pr with 98% +e  it simply means 98% of your cancer requires estrogen to grow.  You're going to knock out a lot of cancer with just the AI.  At your age and stage 1 grade 1 with no positive lymph nodes, I'd skip chemo if I were you.  You can ask your MO what the risk is with and without chemo and I think you'll find it's quite small.  You are more likely to die of old age.  Chemo would negatively effect your quality of life for about a year.

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  • SusanGA
    SusanGA Member Posts: 147
    edited August 2017

    Thanks. He is suggesting chemo but as an abundance of precaution. I will be on AI for ten years

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  • Denise-G
    Denise-G Member Posts: 1,777
    edited August 2017

    My mom was 80 upon diagnosis for Stage 1, 100% ER breast cancer - 1.4 cm. The doctors did not recommend chemo or radiation for mom as they said recurrence usually doesn't occur in that Stage cancer until at least 10 years, so it would not benefit my mom. She took AI for 3 years, but had balance issues, so she had to quit. She is now 4 years out, and doing well...

    My suggestion is to get a second opinion from an NCI designated cancer center with a tumor board. Chemo is not easy at any age.

    https://www.cancer.gov/research/nci-role/cancer-centers/find

    All my best wishes!

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  • SusanGA
    SusanGA Member Posts: 147
    edited August 2017

    Hi Denise, This is an NCI designated Center....the only one in my state. MY Onc is a professor of Oncology as well. So I think I am in good hands. They just give you pros and cons and leave it up to you. He admitted that it is a very hard call. The funny thing is that I actually expected the Mamaprint to come back low risk. Surprised the daylights out of me. I am reacting to all the publications that say this is an aggressive subset but in my case caught super early. What a tough decision. My chemo would be CMF which I think is easier than ACT. I just can't find anyone my age that has done it. Thanks for your reply. I read your blog

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  • muska
    muska Member Posts: 1,195
    edited August 2017

    Hi Susan, it looks like you have been a member on this site for over eight years. Is this your first cancer or do you have some prior BC history?

    Best of luck.

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