The Estrogen Puzzle

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stephaniebc
stephaniebc Member Posts: 53
edited April 2018 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

i am sure there is a simple explanation for this completely perplexing situation:

an acquaintance of mine - in her mid 40s, like me - just tested positive for the BRCA2 mutation - cumulative risk estimate for developing breast cancer over a lifetime: 70% - and two different doctors have recommended a prophylactic double mastectomy and oophorectomy and... HRT. i couldn't believe it but they want to give her estrogen. meanwhile, my cumulated risk for recurrence over a lifetime must be something like 30%, and i am not even allowed to produce my own estrogen. does anyone understand anything about any of this?

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  • CindyNY
    CindyNY Member Posts: 1,022
    edited April 2018

    stephaniebc- I'm guessing you'd have to do some research. Because you (and I) already had bc with ER+ & PR+ responding tumors, we don't want any estrogen to feed another tumor growth. But with your friend not having any tumor, getting precautionary surgery to avoid a tumor... I don't have the answer. There must be a reason if 2 separate Drs recommend it. UNLESS she misunderstood HT vs HRT. Best wishes to her.

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  • dtad
    dtad Member Posts: 2,323
    edited April 2018

    stepheniebc...are you sure your friend didn't confuse HRT with anti hormone therapy? Just a thought.

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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited April 2018

    I’m not sure, but aren’t many Brca tumors Er/Pr negative? Maybe that is why it is being considered.

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  • Lula73
    Lula73 Member Posts: 1,824
    edited April 2018

    I just looked up recommended prophylactic treatment for BRCA+ to be sure:

    PBM, Oophorectomy with salpingectomy, and anti-hormone therapy.

    Betting the docs said ‘hormone therapy’ and the assumption was HRT.

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  • stephaniebc
    stephaniebc Member Posts: 53
    edited April 2018

    she is positive they offered HRT to alleviate the sudden menopause brought on by the oophorectomy.

    thanks ladies for your input.

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

    Maybe they give a really low dose of estrogen to lessen the effects of the ovaries being taken out? It's not like tamoxifen lowers your estrogen anyway, it just blocks the receptors.

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