If pre-op Anastrozole shrinks tumor completely then what?

My sister in law had chemotherapy before surgery for IDC. It was essentially NED after chemo. But she went ahead and had a lumpectomy to remove the tissue at ground zero as a precaution. My brother is a surgeon, burn specialty, and was very involved with her doctors and decisions. She then did 5 years tamoxifen, she was postmenopausal. That was 2016, no recurrences.

@triciaot appreciate your sharing about your SIL. Looking at Dr. Google, I was able to find some info that seems to show that even with comple I’d never heard of giving estrogen blockers prior to surgery either (neoadjuvant therapy) At first the surgeon was explaining how she was going to put in a port & then I’d have to take chemo to make my tumor smaller before she would operate. When I told her about my husband & how I needed some time to arrange for help with him, she said I could give this a try for 3 months. And that hopefully it would keep the tumor from growing or possibly, best case scenario, maybe even get smaller. I appreciate your well wishes & hope the best for you too te response & no tumor on imaging, then surgery is still done to make sure there’s no microscopic evidence of cancer. That’s the reason they put in the surgical clips when I had my core biopsy & axillary node aspirations

Surgeon has me taking Anastrozole for 3 mo to hopefully shrink large idc tumor so surgery can be possible (or not as radical) After only 2 months, I can already see significant size reduction of axillary nodes & breast size.So, my question is this. Has anyone had pre-op Anastrozole get rid of their bc completely & then not require any surgery?My husband is elderly & I’m his sole caregiver. I’d like to know a guess as to what my future course might look like & my crystal ball is on the fritz lolThanks very much!

@ludanmama86, that is a very interesting question. Aromatase inhibitors, like anastrozole, do not typically replace surgery. Rather, they help reduce the size of the tumor to have clear margins during surgery.

Have you discussed this with your surgeon and oncologist?

I’ve been on AI’s for a year—several months more than originally thought but other issues got in the way so now going on 7/2 but have decided Goldilocks Mastectomy to avoid having a redo if pathology report says it’s needed. Pushing 80 so hoping my time remaining is not plagued with anymore cancer diagnosis. This is second time having had BC 25 years ago and was doing great—or so I thought. Best of luck and if you have confidence in your doctor I’m sure you’ll get along well.

@colleenyoung thanks very much for replying. I’m feeling very alone in this as I haven’t told my husband yet (he’s elderly & I’m his sole caregiver)
I have an appointment with my breast surgeon on the 15th. I reached out to her with a few questions & her APRN’s assistant got back with me. I’m scheduled to have a mammogram & ultrasound right before my appointment & we’re supposed to discuss treatment plans then. I haven’t seen the oncologist yet

@buckokey thanks so very much for your reply. I’m very sorry for your recurrence. Never heard of that procedure before so I’ll have to look it up. Best of luck to you 🙏

We have no idea how many suffer from loneliness every day. Social media gives us a sort of connection that eases our feelings of isolation. It’s difficult to make new friends at this age but talking freely with others going through similar situations certainly eases our feelings. Keep us posted through your journey as many share your thoughts. Blessings to you!

@buckokey thanks so very much. I agree, isolation only adds to many burdens. That’s why it’s so important to have a good support system. I hope that you do. Please post an update about the results of your upcoming surgery. You’re in my prayers

For anyone else who may be wondering about the same issue I am, just thought I’d pass along this link to an article. I’m not advocating this course of action, I just thought the info was interesting
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22176032/