Completing 5 years on Anastrozole: Did you continue or stop after 5?

Posted by cashoots @cashoots, Jan 2 12:23pm

I’m coming to the end of my 5 years on Anastrozole and would like feedback on stopping or continuing with it.

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katgob | @katgob | Jan 13 1:01pm

In reply to @buckokey "I’m just switching from letrozole to anastrozole beginning tomorrow. Pre-lumpectomy with surgery scheduled for mid-March. Conversation..." + (show)

@buckokey

Frustration!!! Twenty years ago, they did not know what they know now. I like the idea of a 2nd opinion.
My goodness, at City of Hope in Duarte California, I have had at least 10 ultrasounds since i was diagnosed in July of 2021. I did have a dbl mastectomy because i had the Brca2 mutation found in my genetic test. At three years just passing my implants no longer feel like foreign appendages. I put them in because i was not big breasted and for the foreseeable future noone knows they are fake. I am also barbie, as everything was removed and the skin method was used.
Your life-your choice.

Above all, it is your body and your choice. All yours. If side effects ruin your quality of life, then at 79 live your life as you want.

beyourownadvocate | @beyourownadvocate | Jan 13 2:24pm

In reply to @sharon35981 "@beyourownadvocate May I ask, what is the genetic testing? I’m almost at five years." + (show)

@sharon35981
Invitae is the company. My oncologist referred to them at my initial appointment.

beyourownadvocate | @beyourownadvocate | Jan 13 2:25pm

In reply to @beyourownadvocate "@sharon35981 Invitae is the company. My oncologist referred to them at my initial appointment." + (show)

@beyourownadvocate

maryanne7 | @maryanne7 | Jan 13 2:48pm

In reply to @kissmekate48 "I’m completing year 2, and having either managed or adjusted to side effects, I’m hoping to..." + (show)

@kissmekate48 I was on it for 5 years. The doctor said I was done. That was 2019. I'm still good in 2026.

stephlb | @stephlb | Jan 13 3:55pm

I was on anastrozole for 10 years after stage 1B in 2010. A year and a half after stopping the drug I was diagnosed stage 4 HR+ HER 2 low. I understand that there is lasting protection for 5 years after stopping anastrozole, but that wasn't the case for me. I had no side effects with anastrozole.

beyourownadvocate | @beyourownadvocate | Jan 13 11:03pm

In reply to @sharon35981 "@beyourownadvocate May I ask, what is the genetic testing? I’m almost at five years." + (show)

@sharon35981

The genetic testing was done at the very beginning of my diagnosis. The California company was Invitae.
It serves clinics nationwide so my doctors in Iowa and Nebraska were familiar with it.

The results showed I have only a 14% for reoccurrence and that I did not need chemotherapy to precede my radiation. It also was determined by my latest oncologist (5 years into my journey) that I only needed the five years of anastrozole. (Cancer treatment is evolving which is good thing for us).
It’s an out of pocket expense ( $1500 in 2020), but it also showed that my daughter, son and granddaughters were not likely to develop DCIS.

beyourownadvocate | @beyourownadvocate | Jan 13 11:05pm

And yes! Men get breast cancer, too! My brother was tested just in case.

kissmekate48 | @kissmekate48 | 4 days ago

In reply to @stephlb "I was on anastrozole for 10 years after stage 1B in 2010. A year and a..." + (show)

@stephlb I am so sorry to hear this — I hope you get a good plan that manages it well with good and long quality of life.

sequoia | @sequoia | 3 days ago

In reply to @stephlb "I was on anastrozole for 10 years after stage 1B in 2010. A year and a..." + (show)

@stephlb I am so sorry to hear this. Was your surgery a lumpectomy 10 yrs ago? What treatment/surgery for the second surgery. Blessings for you. What a journey you have had. ❤️🙏🏼.

stephlb | @stephlb | 3 days ago

In reply to @sequoia "@stephlb I am so sorry to hear this. Was your surgery a lumpectomy 10 yrs ago?..." + (show)

@sequoia
My initial surgery in 2010 was a lumpectomy followed by chemo and radiation. Then 10 years of anastrozole. Now with MBC, diagnosed in 2022, it was in my right lung, pluera, lymph nodes and bones. Verzenio and Exemestane took it all away within 3 months. I was NED for around 2 1/2 years until is came back in bones then eventually my lung. I am now on Fulvestrant only. I do not have treatable BC mutations. I'm hoping for a long run on this treatment too! I am HR+, HER2 low.