Stage 1 lobular breast cancer, anyone no treatment after surgery?

Mine was Stage 1 IDC ER/PR positive and HER2 negative I was 65 at the time of surgery. I chose lumpectomy with breast reduction alone because my post surgery biopsy showed no lymph nodes and clear margins. For me was the place where it was located they could not assure me 100% that I would not have any heart issues because I would have had radiation directly above my heart. I can appreciate you looking at numbers and thinking the odds are in your favor! My chance of a recurrence was less than my chance of having permanent heart damage, so I chose to forego it as well as hormone therapy. The hormone therapy had less than 2 % chance of preventing anything and a horribly high risk of side affects.

I did have radiation and am mad I did. My radiation oncologist recommended 5 treatment of rad. At a high level but said my heart would be fine. So I got it done. Then when I went to cardiologist he was so rude and just said oh yeah, you will get corotid arteries from radiation (left side) I was like…don’t you guys talk to each other? For Gods sake.
Why would rad oncologist act like the heart would he fine when it won’t? I prayed when I got my radiation for God to protect my heart. So there is that!!! 🙏💕💪🏻✅

I was diagnosed with Stage 1 lobular cancer in January of 2023. I had a lumpectomy and had the sentinel node removed for biopsy, which showed no sign of cancer. I live in a rural area, so my radiation oncologist offered me a fairly new radiation treatment schedule that involves higher doses of radiation given every other day for just two weeks. I believe this radiation regime was created in Italy. I had no side effects from the radiation, in terms of burning or post radiation pain. My Oncotype Dx score was 12 and did not have chemo, as chemo has shown to be ineffective for lobular breast cancer. (Whew! Dodged that bullet!) I took Anastrozole for 14 months. The first year, I had no side effects. But starting at around 1 year, I became depressed and my joints really started to ache. Especially in my fingers and hips. I opted to quit taking it as quality of life is more important to me at this point in my life. (I'm 65.) I just had my two-year follow-up mammo and ultrasound and received the "all-clear." I have a breast MRI scheduled for June and, hopefully, I will receive another "all clear." I get anxious before all of those appointments, so I understand your concern about whether or not you made the right decision. I would recommend you go through with the radiation. It's quick and provides a bit more peace of mind. Good luck to you in your journey. Hugs, Nina

I have DCIS with invasive cells, stage 1a, grade 2-3 (not lobular BC). Even before surgery, the surgeon said that she didn't do Oncotype for people over 70. I'm 80. After 2 surgeries, medical oncologist said I could have Oncotype done but would have to wait a month to get the results. I could not start radiation until Oncotype results were received. By this time more than 3 months had passed since the cancer was first discovered. So I decided not to pursue Oncotype testing, assuming that because I was 80, my cancer was probably not very aggressive. After radiation, I started aromatase inhibitors but tolerated them poorly.

I went to a 2nd medical oncologist (at a different cancer center), asked her for Oncotype test and she ordered it. My hope was that my score would be low and that it would be safe for me not to take aromatase inhibitors. Instead, my score was 29 (higher than I'd hoped for!). So, in addition to anastrozole, I am just now starting Kisqali (ribociclib). My conclusion: older people can and do have (relatively) aggressive cancers and should have Oncotype (or other genetic tests for their tumors). Age should not be the deciding factor.