Anastrozole only good for breast cancer??

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Anonymous
Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
edited October 2018 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

Forgive my ignorance but is Anastrozole only good for breast cancer? I can't find that it treats any other kind of cancer.

If we have breast cancer, are we not candidates for other types of cancer? Isn't there something that treats the entire body after breast surgery?

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited October 2018

    Are you asking if there is some treatment that helps prevent bc metastasis after surgery or if there is a treatment that prevents all cancer after surgery?

    Anastrozole is one of several aromatase inhibitors. Besides bc it can be usedto treat gynecomastia in men. There are probably off label uses as well.

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  • LeesaD
    LeesaD Member Posts: 383
    edited October 2018
    Anastrozole and the other AI’s treat ER positive breast cancer as it prevents androgen from converting to estrogen therefore reducing the amount of estrogen in our bodies therefore starving the cancer that is ER fed. So unless other cancers are fed by estrogen I think the AI’s would not be effective for other cancers. I’m sure there are others who can elaborate further on my simplistic understanding of how it works. But that’s how I understand it.
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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2018

    Thank you exbrnxgrl and Leesa!

    I guess I was erroneously under the impression that the pill helped ward off future cancer throughout the body, not just in the breast. If this is so, I don't understand why, or is breast cancer the only one related to the production of hormones?

    In other words, I'm taking this little pill every day and putting up with potential side effects (only started it three days ago), and I'm only protected against further breast cancer?

    Doesn't chemotherapy protect the entire body?

    Again, please forgive my lack of understanding of this issue!

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  • Meow13
    Meow13 Member Posts: 4,859
    edited October 2018

    Anastrozole will protect the whole body. Breast cancer can metastasize to the bones, brain, lungs and other parts of the body. If the BC is er or pr positive anastrozole will effectively treat the whole body.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2018

    Thanks Meow13! That makes sense, however I didn't find an article that plainly stated this. I appreciate your input.

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  • Ingerp
    Ingerp Member Posts: 2,624
    edited October 2018

    My <also simplistic> understanding is an AI would help preventBC anywhere in the body (i.e., a local or distant recurrence/metastasis) but would not help a new primary cancer of another type.

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited October 2018

    viewfinder,

    It’s important to understand that metastasis of bc to other organs or bones is still breast cancer. For example, I have breast cancer that has metastasized to my bones. I do not have bone cancer and my treatments are breast cancer treatments,

    Primary cancers of other varieties are treatedfor what they are i.e. lung, skin, etc. There is no universal or whole body cancer prevention treatment.

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