Bone density worsening on AI & post chemo

Posted by ksue3 @ksue3, 2 days ago

I am soon to be 85. I don't think of myself that age. I am very active and involved in my community. I have had bone density issues for years and on various drugs for it. It improved on Evenity and I completed the course of it. Then started on Prolia. Then I had breast cancer (DCIS and an area of Invasive), mastectomy with no node involvement and had clear margins, four rounds of chemo, and on anastrazole, changed to exemestane. Recent bone density shows a decrease again. I have an appt. with my oncologist Monday and am anxious to see what she suggests. My endocrinologist is sending a referral to the university hospital for a second opinion. It is a hard spot to be in. Stop the AI drug and risk cancer or stay on it and risk fractures. What will give me the best quality of life? My tumor was grade 3. Nottingham score of 9, ER 98% positive, PR 19% positive, HER2 negative, Ki -67 was 65%. Onco recurrence Score 34. Has anyone stopped the AI drugs due to bone density issues? There isn't a crystal ball to give the right decision. I will worry about all of this the rest of my life. Not that worry helps anything. God help us all as we constantly deal with the ramifications of the breast cancer journey.

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Rubyslippers | @triciaot | 2 days ago

@ksue3 I’m 71 on Reclast for bones, three years post BC surgery & radiation, no chemo. I’m on Tamoxifen, which is somewhat protective of bones, but I was at osteoporosis at BC diagnosis. You might want to consider that you want to protect the bone you have with something like Reclast - although there are bone builders, they can have more side effects.
My local endocrinologist and MD Anderson rheumatologist seem happy with where I am, now in osteopenia and stable.