Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!

Not just that, but there are three different AIs and most women find one of them has the fewest side effects. Even branded (hideously expensive, even from Canada) can differ from generic, and depending on the excipients & fillers there are sometimes differences among generics of the same drug. My MO put me on letrozole (generic Femara) because it made the biggest reduction in recurrence risk over tamoxifen or no endocrine therapy. I tried the branded Femara (from canadadrugsonline.com) but found that the generic Roxane & Teva had even fewer dyes & fillers. Eventually, could get only Accord, but by then I felt almost no SEs. Couldn't do tamoxifen, not just because it's contradicted with my maintenance antidepressant but because of the danger of blood clots at my age.

Trilogy - There are several online calculators that let you enter information about your tumor and see the effect of various therapies. The first two links are for IDC and give options for chemo and endocrine therapy. Since you also had a separate area of DCIS I have included a calculator for that which references radiation and endocrine therapy statistical effects.

https://breast.predict.nhs.uk/tool

http://www.lifemath.net/cancer/breastcancer/therap...

https://nomograms.mskcc.org/breast/ductalcarcinoma...

My tumor was larger so I also had the results of the OncotypeDX to help guide my decision. These calculators are statistical models and will not predict exactly what will happen to you. Your MO should also be able to give you ballpark estimates about how much certain therapies will help and how likely they are to cause serious side effects in your situation. I went with radiation and declined the endocrine therapy knowing that my chances of MBC recurrence are increased by 7%. I have osteoporosis and a terrible family history there (bone collapse led to my mother's death and so far my younger sister has had 4 hip replacements, 2 knee replacements and back surgery) as well as arthritis which, in my opinion, was more serious than lessening the chance of recurrence. Although my RO thought I would be fine with radiation and I sailed through treatment with minor side effects, six months later I developed grade 3 late stage radiation induced pulmonary fibrosis even though the chance for that happening to a never-smoker is just 3 in 1000. It was pretty scary at the time, but I now am being treated by an ILD pulmonologist and am doing OK (walk 3 miles daily) on inhaled corticosteroids. Hindsight is 20/20 but I still think I made the correct decisions with what I knew. Both undergoing treatment and doing nothing can have consequences.

Good luck with deciding the best course of treatment for you.

My doctor told me a few you weeks ago that if I stopped taking letrozole at the two-year mark that my survival rate would only be slightly impacted. He emphasized the word slight. I have not input my information and I don’t intend to because the site was hacked and I can’t tell you how much that irritates me,the information that got out there.

well my first answer they tell me didn’t work. I believe this was the site where I got an email saying

Chisandy, I thought it was the breast cancer site but maybe I misunderstood everything in the message. I know they talked about possible images that maybe got stolen or whatever. You know more about this site than I do so I will take your word that it was not malevolent.

That is very good to know. I am glad BCO are being that cautious with information. I already have been taking letrozole for a year and a half. A bit over that in fact. Pretty good as far as not having side effects.

yes my doctor is thinking five years but we will have to see what happens. He seems so sure that it will not come back because of the size of the small tumor. And no node involvement. technology changes so we will see. They also say that letrozole, after a person stop taking it, still gives protection to the body for a few more years. Not sure if it changes the DNA or what but I’ve read that more than once and the dr know this from studies that have been done.

thank you. I knew there was some medical explanation. As long as it works and apparently it does!