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Ibrance and Letrozole: Newly Diagnosed Treatment
Breast Cancer | Last Active: Jan 22, 2023 | Replies (104)Comment receiving replies
That last sentence of mine should read ..."the 'average risk of recurrence [for estrogen positive breast cancer] is currently thought to be REDUCED by ~45%, over 5 years, for women taking anti-hormone therapy."
Replies to "That last sentence of mine should read ..."the 'average risk of recurrence [for estrogen positive breast..."
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You have to be careful with looking at the percentages and know whether they are telling you the "absolute" percentage or the "relative" percentage. You need to ask that question.
For instance, in my age group, if I do not have radiation there is a 6% chance of me having the cancer return - which means there is a 94% chance it won't! That is the ABSOLUTE percentage. If I have the radiation it reduces the chance of me getting the cancer back to 3%.
Now when the oncologist was telling me about the anastrozole, she said if I took it, it would reduce my chances of getting the cancer back by 50% because if you compare the 6% chance to the 3% chance - that is a 50% reduction, but it is the RELATIVE percentage - in other words, 6% compared to 3%. BUT the absolute value is that without the anti-hormone therapy or radiation I had a 94 % chance of getting it back, and with the therapies, I had a 97% chance of getting it back. For a 3% chance, it was not worth it to me to brave the side effects.