Does it really matter what "treatment" we take?

I think it does matter what treatment you do - you just don't know if it is relevant to you. Chemo does work for some people, but not all. So I'll throw the proverbial kitchen sink at this beast, because it could make the difference between life and death. Yeah, this treatment regimen sucks, but it's a year out of my life. I'll take my chances that it'll work

BB, I don't know. Mine was 6 points lower, plus I was 62 at that time. Maybe you were younger? Doctors have to consider multiple factors.

Want to add that I know first hand that doctors don't always get it right.

I just commented recently (not sure what thread) on the dosage amount too! I'm about 105. I usually only need one Tylenol or Motrin. My MO cut the benedryl in half during chemo and it still put me to sleep. I wish the tamoxifen was adjusted by weight as well. I'm sure all the studies were based on standard dosage though. I meet with him Tuesday. I'm going to bring it up

Pupmom and Bosumbuddy101: A low Oncotype score of below 18 usually means that the risks outweigh the benefits and chemo is not recommended. I hope they are right! You have to be ER positive, HER-2 negative and up to 3 lymph nodes positive I think to qualify for the test. The dosage of birth control pills or other standard medicines are not changed based on weight so hopefully you won't have any side effects from hormone therapy.

I'm not sure what the dosage is for women with metastatic stage 4 cancers, but I was reading that Tamoxifen is prescribed to prevent recurrence in the contralateral breast. This is confirmed on this website:

http://www.chemocare.com/chemotherapy/drug-info/Ta...

What's funny is that they state: "Your doctor will determine your dose, schedule and duration of treatment."

They consider "rare" to be events that occur in less than 10% of users: "Not all side effects are listed above. Some that are rare (occurring in less than 10% of patients) are not listed here. However, you should always inform your health care provider if you experience any unusual symptoms."

Bosombuddy101 -- Look over the OncotypeDx website. The Oncotype Distant Recurrence Risk indication assumes that the patient will have five years of anti-hormonal treatment. For any case meeting OncotypeDx's submission criteria, anti-hormonal treatment would be appropriate and expected, see. The OncotypeDx test for Invasive Breast Cancer is to help guide the treatment decision about (infused) Chemotherapy.

I believe ShockedAt48's point in making reference to one-size oral contraceptive dosing was to address a concern you and Legomaster225 expressed about one-size dosing with anti-hormonal medicine. Many medicines have one-size dosing for adults.

All medicines have possible risks and possible side effects. Those of you new to this and dreadful of anti-hormonal treatment, why not give the recommended medicine a real try? If you have bothersome side effects, your Doctor may be able to help you about that, maybe even by changing your medicine. You may have side effects that seem trivial to you. You may have side effects that are only temporary.

Icietla and Shocked,

I'm still recovering from the bilateral mastectomy so I haven't met with any of the medical team besides the breast surgeon. I really don't know what they're going to recommend. When I first met with my breast surgeon who did the bilateral, I was informed by the nurse that the surgery would probably be the only thing I would need given the fact that my tumor is pure mucinous carcinoma which has a very favorable prognosis.

It just occurred to me that if 180,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, 10% or 18,000 women will experience so-called "rare" events taking Tamoxifen. These are frightening statistics.

Pupmom:

I had an Oncotype score of 14 as well -- diagnosed at 49. No chemo by all doctors consulted.

Lego and Bosom: I got you. I'm not even 100lbs right now. (Lost about 5 after cutting out wine/cheese every night after work. LOL) The anesthesiologist for my BMX said I should have pediatric dose of Tylenol, etc., and I'm assuming he gave me that for surgery. I do wonder about dosages when there is such disparity with weight.

Icietla,

According to many sites, including

http://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/TumorCharacteris...

about 70% of breast cancers are hormone receptor positive and each year, according to the American Cancer Society, 252,000 women are diagnosed. When one considers that women are prescribed Tamoxifen over a period of 5 - 10 years, the figures add up--- consequently the number of women who fall under the "rare events" category is probably much higher than 25,000. You can be sure the "rare" events that the site is referring to is not "freckling" or "oilier skin." You can also be sure that if the number of rare occurrences was under 1% they would say so. I believe the number of rare events is actually closer to 10% and that's why they have that number listed.

By the age of 55, over half of all breast cancers reported. How does that corroborate the figures you pulled out of your head?

My question as well. Had horrible side effects from Aramosin, now experiencing same from Arimidex. Quality of life worsening at age 65.

Had double mastectomy, strong family history of cancer.

I'm triple neg, PALB gene positive.

Do AI's matter for me? I don't think oncologists really have the answer to this.

Hello, I'm kind of confused right now, my mom was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, stage 2 , grade 2, her2 neu1+ negative , est, prog positive , ki67=12%.( no metastasis) The doctor said radical mastectomy. What I want to know is the treatment after surgery. The doctor said this is hormone positive cancer and no chemotherapy . Please , tell me is this the case when i should visit another doctor? or what is the best treatment for this type of cancer, your response is very important and means a lot for me,

Tako, Did the doctor do an oncotype test on your mom? That would be an important factor in determining if chemo would be beneficial. Not everyone gets chemo. How old is your mom? That may make a difference too.

This might be helpful...

https://www.nccn.org/patients/guidelines/content/PDF/stage_I_breast.pdf

HapB,

Exactly! I intend to ask for the oncotype dx score next time I meet with the oncologist and find out exactly what my recurrence risk is. According to numerous studies, the survival rate for my particular cancer is 90% over 10 years with no treatment other than lumpectomy with radiation or mastectomy. The recurrence risk is 10% and hormone therapy reduces this recurrence risk by say, 50% to 5%. In other words the survival rate over 10 years with hormone therapy is 95%. Since most women won't have a recurrence, is it really worth the risk of taking a drug that can potentially cause other life threatening conditions? Also, I read on Breastcancer.org that women who start hormone therapy and then stop, for whatever reason, are at increased risk of having a recurrence. I don't know the exact mechanism for this, but here it is:

http://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/not-taki...

So...do I take a chance with hormones and then God forbid, have a serious side effect--- like a pulmonary embolism----- then stop taking hormones and end up with breast cancer again --- followed by radiation, possibly chemo and end up taking blood thinners (Warfarin --- rat poison) for the rest of my life? Decisions, decisions....

Pupmom,

You can't compare Tamoxifen to baby aspirin. Seriously.

These are life altering decisions and it's a huge learning curve. Much of this is just me trying to think things through and finding some clarity or maybe truth.