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
I know the feeling! And mayo doctors all agree no white sugar or processed foods - both are bad for you! So happy doctors are agreeing with this!
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionWhat a terrible experience. I am so sorry for you.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionLymphedema Update - I've been having 'words' with my breast surgeon department regarding this lymphedema issue and I can report a 'win'. They offer no lymphedema treatment presently (it was cut) but as of today they offered me an outside referral to get treatment that will be covered by my insurance. My nature is to be cooperative and pleasant but sometimes you have to push to get attention and change. The doctor group even said they have 'learned so much from my experience' and they agree that more should be addressed for women moving forward. I hesitate to kick up a fuss but I'm pleased to say this time it has made a positive change for me and I hope will help women to follow. Now on to the hard work of figuring out how to manage this and never go back to the hospital with sepsis again.......but first, I'm going to make some Merry Christmas here at my house!! Hugs to all.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
4 Reactions@cindylb
Since most of the people in charge haven't had cancer, they have no clue. God bless them anyway. It's been almost a year now and I have finally been shown how to work the lymphedema for my breast. Hoping you get help soon.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
3 Reactions@cindylib
YOU are terrific!
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionGlad you're getting that help @trixie1313 ........Since my swelling had completely stopped I was only doing the minimum and not being as careful as I should have. Cautionary tale......add lymphedema management to daily chores!!
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsHi Cindylb, thanks for posting about your story here. I've asked the tech guys to move it along with the related replies into it's own discussion in the Breast Cancer group so that your story isn't buried in conversation about AIs. It deserves to be seen.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction@elizm
Thanks for the info on biotin and especially regarding biotin and labs. By any chance, did you have any side effects from that much biotin and did you split up the biotin throughout the day?
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
3 Reactions@trixie1313
I had no side effects (it was recommended by the nurse practitioner in my oncologist's office), and yes, I divided up (and continue to do so) the doses between morning and evening. For me, it's been preferable to Rogaine which made a mess of my hair the few times I tried it. [I also lost my toe and finger nails to chemo, and Biotin helped them grow back rather quickly without expected splits and chips.]
Obviously, you'll want to check with your PCP and oncologist before taking any new (to you) supplement and its dosage, especially if you're diabetic.
Interestingly (to me), many doctors are not aware of what biotin and other supplements can do to lab assays. I found out, quite by accident. About six months after starting biotin, a neurologist ordered a thyroid test for me. The results said I was hyperthyroid. My PCP said my thyroid felt fine to him, but then ordered an ultrasound of it, and referred me to an endocrinologist. I couldn't believe that I was hyperthyroid and decided to research it on the web where I found that, until ap. 2016, endocrinologists (and others) were unaware of the effects of biotin on thyroid tests, and had been treating those people for hyperthyroidism (which is quite serious)! In an agreement with my PCP, I stopped taking all supplements for a week and, sure enough, the next thyroid assays were quite normal. Ever since then, I go off of 95% of my supplements before any lab test, and the results for several measures are much improved over those when on supplements.
Why doctors don't understand the above and require this is a curiosity to me....
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionThis study, just presented at the San Antonia Breast Cancer Symposium, Dec of 2019 might be of interest.
MY SUMMARY AND TEXT FROM THE STUDY
Anastrozole significantly reduced breast cancer after even 10.9 years after stopping the drug--a 50% reduction vs a placebo. Now on to deaths from breast cancer. At the time of analysis, 129 deaths had been reported, with no significant difference in all-cause mortality between the anastrozole and placebo groups. There had been only five deaths from breast cancer, two among those assigned anastrozole and three among those assigned placebo. “This is too few breast cancer deaths to determine if anastrozole reduces breast cancer mortality, so we are planning to follow the IBIS-II Prevention participants for longer to investigate this,” Cuzick concluded.
THE WHOLE STUDY
SABCS 2019: Breast cancer preventive effects of anastrozole persist long after stopping treatment
12 Dec 2019
Breast cancer incidence among post menopausal women at high risk for developing the disease continued to be significantly reduced 5.9 years after stopping five years of the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole, according to data from the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study II (IBIS-II) Prevention trial presented at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec.10–14.
The study is being simultaneously published in the The Lancet.
“IBIS-II Prevention was designed to investigate whether fiveyears of anastrozole can safely and effectively prevent breast cancer in postmenopausal women who are at high risk for the disease,” said Jack Cuzick, PhD, cochairman of the International Breast Cancer Intervention Studies. “In 2013, we reported that in the first seven years of follow-up, anastrozole significantly reduced breast cancer incidence compared with placebo and that it did so with very few side effects."
“Our new data show that after a median of 10.9 years of follow-up there continues to be a significant reduction in breast cancer incidence,” continued Cuzick, who is also director of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, head of the Centre for Cancer Prevention, and the John Snow Professor of Epidemiology at Queen Mary University of London.
“It is exciting to see that anastrozole has a continued impact on breast cancer incidence even after stopping treatment, as this strengthens the case for its use as a breast cancer prevention therapy.”
Cuzick and colleagues enrolled 3,864 postmenopausal women at increased risk for developing breast cancer in the IBIS-II Prevention study from 2003 to 2012.
Women were considered to be at high risk for breast cancer if they fulfilled any one of a number of criteria, including having two or more blood relatives with breast cancer, having a mother or sister who developed breast cancer before the age of 50, and having a mother or sister who had breast cancer in both breasts.
Among the participants, 1,920 were randomly assigned to anastrozole for five years and 1,944 to placebo.
Five-year adherence to treatment was 74.6 percent for anastrozole and 77.0 percent for placebo, which is not significantly different.
After a median follow-up of 10.9 years, the researchers found that women assigned to anastrozole were 50 percent less likely to have developed breast cancer compared with women assigned to the placebo.
Cuzick explained that there were no new adverse side effects to add to those reported in 2013, which were mostly small increases in muscle aches and pains, and hot flashes.
“No excess of fractures or other serious side effects were seen with anastrozole,” he said.“The 50 percent reduction in likelihood of breast cancer incidence after 10.9 years of follow-up is slightly less than the 53 percent reduction we reported after the first seven years of follow-up, but it is still a significant effect and larger than that seen for tamoxifen,” said Cuzick.
“Another way to consider the data is that it translates into an estimated 29 women needing to be treated with anastrozole for five years to prevent one breast cancer during treatment and in the next five years.
“This is far fewer women than the estimated 49 women that need to be treated with tamoxifen for five years to prevent one breast cancer in the same time period,”added Cuzick.
“Therefore, our new results strongly suggest that anastrozole should be the preferred therapy for breast cancer prevention in postmenopausal women at increased risk for the disease, with tamoxifen used for women who experience severe side effects from anastrozole.”
Cuzick cautioned that the preventive benefits of anastrozole are seen for oestrogen receptor–positive breast cancer and for ductal carcinoma in situ but not for pestrogen receptor–negative breast cancer.
This is to be expected, he says, because anastrozole targets the oestrogen pathway.
At the time of analysis, 129 deaths had been reported, with no significant difference in all-cause mortality between the anastrozole and placebo groups.
There had been only five deaths from breast cancer, two among those assigned anastrozole and three among those assigned placebo.
“This is too few breast cancer deaths to determine if anastrozole reduces breast cancer mortality, so we are planning to follow the IBIS-II Prevention participants for longer to investigate this,” Cuzick concluded.
The link:
https://ecancer.org/en/news/17064-sabcs-2019-breast-cancer-preventive-effects-of-anastrozole-persist-long-after-stopping-treatment
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction