Why Aromasin?

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Johanna24
Johanna24 Member Posts: 3
edited September 2019 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

Hello. I posted this under a LCIS topic but didn't get much response. I had an excision biopsy for ALH and just came back from my post-op appt. with a diagnoses of LCIS. The treatment recommended by the surgeon was Aromasin for five years. But looking through the discussion forums it appears most people have it as a follow up to tamoxifen. I did see this on the breastcancer.org website:

"Research published in 2011 showed that Aromasin can lower risk in high-risk, postmenopausal women who've never been diagnosed with breast cancer. Aromasin is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for this use, but doctors may consider it a good alternative to tamoxifen or Evista."

So, I wonder why Aromasin as opposed to another, and would it be worth it to get a second opinion? I know the side effects are nothing compared to bc, so I don't mean to be wimpy. But I came off a very toxic antibiotic for latent TB that had horrible side effects and I'm dreading starting this. Thank you!
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  • buttonsmachine
    buttonsmachine Member Posts: 930
    edited September 2019

    Johanna, I don't know much about LCIS, but I can make a few observations.

    Most importantly: Your surgeon is not the best person to advise on hormone medicine. Ask to meet with a medical oncologist for a second opinion on this.

    As far as Aromasin vs Tamoxifen goes, you should discuss it with the medical oncologist. There are pros and cons to both - I personally found Tamoxifen to be easier to tolerate, but there are many here who had the reverse experience. You may just have to try different drugs and see how you respond.

    I hope that helps a bit. Hopefully more people will chime in soon. Best wishes.

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  • Ingerp
    Ingerp Member Posts: 2,624
    edited September 2019

    Do you mean Aromasin vs. one of the other aromatase inhibitors? Or Aromasin vs. Tamoxifen? Your LCIS must have been ER+, right? And typically Tamoxifen is given to pre-menopausal women, and an AI is given to post-menopausal women.

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  • MelissaDallas
    MelissaDallas Member Posts: 7,268
    edited September 2019

    https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/patient-education/lobular-carcinoma-situ-lcis


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  • jjberky
    jjberky Member Posts: 8
    edited September 2019

    Hi,


    I was initially diagnosed with Stage 2b breast cancer with spread to my lymph nodes in early 2014. I went through 7 cycles of chemo and radiation treatments. I then went on to Tamoxifen which should have been for 10 years. Late in 2018 my Onc put me on Anastrozole but sadly a few months later I found out the cancer came back as bone mets. I was treated with Ibrance but had to go onto IV chemo for 6 months. I was declared in remission in July of this year at which time I was put on Aromasin. By far of all of these drugs the Aromasin has been the least troublesome for me as far as side effects.

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