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Should I not be taking hormone inhibitors after mastectomy?
Breast Cancer | Last Active: 8 hours ago | Replies (24)Comment receiving replies
@auntieoakley what "newer tests" are you referring to? Are there new tests that sometimes show that a hormonal cancer does not need an AI or tamoxifen?
The Oncotype, as I remember, always shows some statistics for benefit from hormonal treatment. The Breast Cancer Index may show no extended benefit after 5 yeas, but that is done only after 5 years to hormonal meds.
My breast cancer was 10 years ago but I have friends deciding. I may not be up on the newer testing that @auntieoakley refers to. Details please!
This thread needs actual evidence/links, because this would be a very important development for many. But I cannot find any study that resembles what @lindaloon's doctor showed her.
I fear that even without evidence, people will read this and decide not to take hormonal meds. Perhaps @lindaloon could help us by asking the doctor for specifics and/or sharing the link with us. Until then I am skeptical out of an abundance of caution and hope others are too.
Replies to "@auntieoakley what "newer tests" are you referring to? Are there new tests that sometimes show that..."
Thank you so much! I messaged my oncologist and this is his reply:
“What I showed you was a website for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. (http://www.nccn.org) You need to register to be able to use it, but you should be able to bring up the section on breast cancer where there are flow charts. There is a long section at the end which you can read that discusses the recommendations in more detail.”
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To me those are newer tests. lol 😂
You are the testing information lady. My original cancer diagnosis was over 20 years ago and none of the tests you talk about (onco dx, breast cancer index, mammo print, etc.) were even thought of.
These are the tests I referred to above. I know they are trying to develop more testing and are doing studies to look at this, but for now, this is the best we have and it is certainly a long way from a few short decades ago.
Twenty years ago, almost everyone got chemo, they had tamoxifen, and Arimidex was a brand new drug, all the others came after that.
You should know I would never promote the idea that people go against medical advice. I took tamoxifen for five and Arimidex/anastrozole for ten years. I believe any side effects that I dealt with are worth the time I have had with my family.