HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - Opinions welcome-- do I get a fourth opinion on hormonal treatments?

AlaskaAngel · 05-11-2006, 09:23 AM

Hi Jen.

I will be interested to see what others have to say about your question. Take heart -- the problem isn't that YOU aren't educated enough, it is that the experts aren't sure either!

You and I both are HER2 positive, and strongly ER+ and strongly PR+. (Where we differ is that you have had Herceptin and I have not, and you are stage III and are in the high-risk younger age group and I am stage 1 and dx'd at 50, so take all that into account.)

I have not been able to find a satisfactory answer to the question either. I did 1 3/4 years of tamo before I was aware of any controversy about it, and then raised the question with my PCP in Alaska, who contacted my onc, a general medical onc, about it. I was told only that because I was now menopausal I could choose to switch to an AI if I wanted to; in other words, no one really had the answer. I switched over.

PR is something they haven't spent much time understanding. I keep my ear out for what Dr. Richard Elledge has to say about it.

I hope Lani or Joe might see something out there to help with this question.

A.A.

05-11-2006, 09:23 AM	#2
AlaskaAngel Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Alaska Posts: 2,018	Hi Jen. I will be interested to see what others have to say about your question. Take heart -- the problem isn't that YOU aren't educated enough, it is that the experts aren't sure either! You and I both are HER2 positive, and strongly ER+ and strongly PR+. (Where we differ is that you have had Herceptin and I have not, and you are stage III and are in the high-risk younger age group and I am stage 1 and dx'd at 50, so take all that into account.) I have not been able to find a satisfactory answer to the question either. I did 1 3/4 years of tamo before I was aware of any controversy about it, and then raised the question with my PCP in Alaska, who contacted my onc, a general medical onc, about it. I was told only that because I was now menopausal I could choose to switch to an AI if I wanted to; in other words, no one really had the answer. I switched over. PR is something they haven't spent much time understanding. I keep my ear out for what Dr. Richard Elledge has to say about it. I hope Lani or Joe might see something out there to help with this question. A.A.