Connect
Concerned about the side effects of anastrozole
I completed all treatments for breast cancer but now I am supposed to take hormone blocker, named anastrozole. im concerned about the side effects. Has anyone here taken it and did anyone have hair loss?
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Breast Cancer Support Group.
Connect
@cindylb
Cindy - For your husband, ask your oncologist if the pathologists did not do the right staining for neuroendocrine tumor of the lung, may I suggest they relook at it? My second lesion in my breast was noted to be just that. It is a very rare cancer that cannot be eradicated, but can be maintained. It can go to lung, brain, bone, etc. It is followed by PET scans - for me it is every 6 months. I am not trying to scare you, but to offer this suggestion due to it's rarity since they have not put a name on it. I was told that it would be treated with the same type of chemo that they treat oat cell ca of the lung with. I have had 3 different pathologists go over mine and was presented again at the Tumor Board at my medical facility. They all agreed that my neuroendocrine was differentiation and they felt it was removed but will need the follow up. Please let us all know how he does.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 Reactions@gwinter
I did ask for an MRI. I told my breast surgeon I was worried about my unaffected breast and could we do an MRI. She said yes, that would be acceptable. Thank goodness I did. There was found a second lesion in my affected breast which showed neuroendocrine differentiation. Had I not had that MRI, I would have just had the first lumpectomy and then there would have been more cancer of a more aggressive type. So talk with your oncologist and insist this be done for your own future health!
Hello trixie1313 and thank you for sharing your information with me. Alas, we have had the most complete pathology available done to the tumor tissue and gotten second opinions and.....we've done it all. There is a chance it is enteric adeonocarcinoma of the lung, a lung cancer that they say is 'rare' but looks more to me like it's just under diagnosed. We've been watching and waiting for over a year now for the cancer to show up somewhere else (in the upper GI tract) to rule out those type of cancers and it has not. So, they are leaning toward this supposed 'rare' type of lung cancer. They even sent the tumor out for the most extensive type of cancer as the doctors are frustrated as well.
It is not common but sometimes cancers appear and then actually regress or go away and we never knew we had them. This was caught purely through a test for something else. At the time it was diagnosed my husband was in bad shape and feeling truly awful, so he presented as a very ill man. His symptoms were from a heart condition however that was easily fixed. Now he has no symptoms of any kind of cancer and has not this whole time. It's truly odd.
I am going to look into neuroendocrine tumor of the lung and the oat cell ca of the lung as well.
Thank you! Hugs!!
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction@cindylb
Cindy, I'm hopeful for you both. The NET is treated like an oat cell ca. NET is a wait and see-type of cancer. It is found by the type of staining on pathology slides and is missed many times because pathologists don't always do the proper staining. I was lucky as pathologists caught mine. I wish you both the very best....keep us posted.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction@farmgirl1556 @francine6829
As posted a few days ago, I would encourage you to read the meta-analysis on aromatase inhibitors versus tamoxifen which I believe addresses some of your questions. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673615610741
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsI would love to see this test with a placebo included in the mix, rather than a simple comparison of two drugs. Also - age specific results. It still doesn’t answer the question of age specific morbidity stats for Stage 1 with radiation OR radiation+AI OR radiation+placebo … THAT is a study that would give answers to me and many others. If anyone finds that study, you will become my new best friend (lucky you).
Wow! This study is really interesting. Summation: Interpretation
Aromatase inhibitors reduce recurrence rates by about 30% (proportionately) compared with tamoxifen while treatments differ, but not thereafter. 5 years of an aromatase inhibitor reduces 10-year breast cancer mortality rates by about 15% compared with 5 years of tamoxifen, hence by about 40% (proportionately) compared with no endocrine treatment.
@samy
No, the noted study does not get into all the fine points which may interest you, but it does indicate that aromatase inhibitors were significantly more effective than tamoxiphen for postmenopausal women, and that recurrence rates differed little by age, stage, grade (body mass index, progesterone receptor status, or HER2 status) in the various therapy groups of the almost 32,000 patients in the study -- important points in which you appeared to be interested.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionGood question ! Bet there is no study to show the differences .
No point in being scared before you have a problem . You may be lucky and not have the same problems . Be mindful but not scared .
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction