Luminal A questions

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Linda2119
Linda2119 Member Posts: 85
edited February 2018 in IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)

Hi,

I was diagnosed in October with ER+ Luminal A IDC. I am post menopausal with some node involvement (hopefully only 3).

I've been on a clinical trial called Alternate - I qualified because my KI67 was below 10. I have been on anastrozole plus fulvestrant for about 13 weeks. Looking at surgery probably around 3/19 (I wish I could pin them down to a definite date, but that has been difficult.) Depending on the pathology of my tumor at surgery, there's a possibility that chemotherapy will be recommended.

I have been researching chemotherapy and have several questions for my fellow Luminal A's:

1. Seems like chemo is not very effective for Luminal A. I would love to hear your experiences re chemo - was it recommended, and why or why not? What were your results?

2. It seems like there is increasing support from the cancer researchers to do Oncotype analysis even with node-positive cancers. Has anyone had this situation? I want to advocate for getting the Oncotype done to provide more information as to the potential benefit of chemo.

3. If you did chemo, what was your regimen?

4. If you had node involvement, how many nodes and what is your understanding of how this affected your treatment?

Thanks in advance. This is all such a roller coaster - some days I still can't believe this is happening to me. Other days, I completely blame myself for taking the hormone replacement therapy, for waiting 3 months for the mammogram after my yearly check up, etc. etc. (There are many reasons for self blame - it's not always easy to put it in perspective.)

Linda

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  • gb2115
    gb2115 Member Posts: 1,894
    edited January 2018

    Hi Linda2119!

    I had a luminal A IDC tumor. And a positive node--one node out of three tested. I received Mammaprint testing, which is along the same lines as the Oncotype. It was explained to me that being luminal A (which the Mammaprint determined), chemo would not add much benefit--something like 2 or 3% if I remember. Therefore we did not pursue that. I was nervous about having a positive node, but my understanding is that's why I got radiation specifically to the lymph node areas. I also had a high Ki67, I think 60%. So I had a high clinical risk, but low genomic risk as identified by Mammaprint.

    I don't know. All I can do is hope for the best. I have a close family member with a stage 4 recurrence after being many many many years cancer free, so I expect it will come back at some point. I just hope it's a long time from now (I'm not even 40 yet).

    Try to let go of the self-blame if you can. I hear you...I had a palpable lump that I failed to notice. I had just had my first mammogram a year prior. So it grew fast. What can you do, you know?!

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited January 2018

    I was Stage 3, Grade 3 luminal a, 11 nodes removed. I had 4 a/c, 1 taxotere. That was supposed to be 4 also. My tumor was 4.5 cm.

    Chemo, surgery and 32 rads.

    5 years later, I am NED.

    The treatment worked.

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  • Joyseeker
    Joyseeker Member Posts: 312
    edited January 2018

    Spookies mom I wish there was a “like" button 💜. You give me much hope.

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  • Linda2119
    Linda2119 Member Posts: 85
    edited January 2018

    Thanks for your responses! The hardest part is the uncertainty. I'm a planner and I want to know NOW whether I'm going to need chemo so I can plan accordingly. Having to wait for surgery is hard enough but waiting for the pathology is excruciating!

    I'm also waiting for a biopsy result which will have my current KI67 number. According to the clinical trial, if the KI67 gets to 2.7, they don't recommend chemo.

    I need to work on patience....

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  • marijen
    marijen Member Posts: 3,731
    edited February 2018

    GATA-3 Expression in Breast Cancer Has a Strong Association with Estrogen Receptor but Lacks Independent Prognostic Value

    Some information on Luminal A and B and Gata-3 positive biopsy results

    http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/17/2/365


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