To continue with hormonal therapy beyond 5 years or not

Options
May18
May18 Member Posts: 1
edited September 2022 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

I was premenopausal when I was diagnosed with Stage 1, grade 1, highly HR+, HER2 - breast cancer 4 years ago. Yesterday, my MO said I could be nearing the end of the hormone therapy, but she gave me two options. 1. Continue on Tamoxifen for 1 more year in order to complete 5 years of treatment and then stop or 2. Switch now to an AI (I have since become menopausal, could be age or could be the tamox but my doc said now am considered post meno) and continue with that until reaching 7 years of treatment. She said that either option is reasonable given my favorable stats and that I have tolerated Tamoxifen well. I am a thin woman with Osteoperosis in my family, so a little concerned about bone loss on and AI. My lifestyle factors are all great, exercise, eat right, sleep well, etc. Anyone else faced with a similar decision? What did you choose? Or even if you don't face this decision, I'd love to hear peoples thoughts. Thank you.

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited September 2022

    I was postmenopausal, PR negative & only mildly ER positive. I did 5 years of an AI and quit. My doctor said if I wanted, he would have let me stay on it for no more than 2 more years as 'these are serious drugs'. (Reading between the lines, I took that to mean those two years would have been more for physiological than medical purposes.) I too live a healthy lifestyle with lots of exercise, little alcohol, keeping a healthy weight etc, (all of which really reduce the risk of recurrence). No one can tell YOU what to do. But if I had your stats (and Osteoporosis in the family tree), I would stay on Tamoxifen for the 5th year and then I would quit.

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