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@colleenyoung

Hi @mf915611, I'd like to add my welcome. I hope you don't mind, but I adjusted the title of the discussion you started to reflect the question many women have about anti-estrogen therapy for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.

The 3 main types of anti-estrogen therapies include:
- aromatase inhibitors
- selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs)
- estrogen receptor downregulators (ERDs)

I'd like to bring in a few more members like @bluebird70 @lisman1408 @roch @texasduchess @char81 @sparklegram @trixie1313 and others into this discussion to share their experiences. Some have switched from one aromatase inhibitor to another or from one type of therapy to another. Others have been able to stick with the original therapy prescribed.

There are side effects listed with all the options, but everyone is different. You may have side effects where someone else has few or none. Where you might have symptoms that negatively affect your quality of life with anastrozole, it may be different with exemestane. I let the others weigh in.

Do you think you'll try exemestane?

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Replies to "Hi @mf915611, I'd like to add my welcome. I hope you don't mind, but I adjusted..."

Thanks - I appreciate the clarification between the 3 types of anti-estrogen therapies. I'm wondering how oncologists decide which combinations to use (it seems these drugs are always given in combo?). It obviously has something to do with the cancer diagnosis, and also with how the drugs are tolerated. But my oncologist is presenting my regime as a given and we never talk about drug combination options. I'm BC mets, stage 4 for 1 year now. Was on Ibrance/Letrozole and when it stopped working after 7 mos went to Faslodex (injected)/Afinitor. Thanks