[Jackie07]

Hi, roz,

Didn't see this thread until now. Not sure if you still care about getting more info...

My Er+ is only 5 %. I started taking Tamoxifen in 2004 after finishing chemo and radiation. Had a recurrence and did bilateral mastectomy in 2007, then chemo and Herceptin. Had to stop Herceptin after 18 week TCH and then just 4 weekly Herceptin because of heart problems.

Then my 2nd Brother was diagnosed with colon cancer. He's been doing very well after surgery and chemo (not required, but he wanted it.) I looked up the Web and found a cluster called HNPCC that seemed to fit our family profile as Mother is survivor (now 14 years) of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

I think if you have family history and want to reduce the risks of getting ovarian cancer, then ooph should be considered. Have you done any BRCA test? My oncologist did not think it's possible for me to have any BRCA genes. Yet we did find a tiny trait - turned out a Jewish group had settled in China more than 2000 years ago.

Having ooph is not a guarantee - I've read there's a tiny possibility of getting peritoneal cancer (?) even after a ooph.

There's a National Institute of Health database called 'PubMed' where you can research medical findings.

Glad you are taking an active role in taking care of your own health. Sending you good vibes.

Below is the abstract of a recent article on the subject:

Fam Cancer. 2012 Jun 19. [Epub ahead of print]
Breast and ovarian cancer risk management in a French cohort of 158 women carrying a BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutation: patient choices and outcome.

This P, de la Rochefordière A, Savignoni A, Falcou MC, Tardivon A, Thibault F, Alran S, Fourchotte V, Fitoussi A, Couturaud B, Dolbeault S, Salmon RJ, Sigal-Zafrani B, Asselain B, Stoppa-Lyonnet D.
Source

Department of Tumor Biology, Institut Curie, 26 rue d'Ulm, 75248, Paris cedex 05, France, pascale.this@curie.net.

Abstract

Description of the various modalities of breast and ovarian cancer risk management, patient choices and their outcome in a single-center cohort of 158 unaffected women carrying a BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutation. Between 1998 and 2009, 158 unaffected women carrying a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation were prospectively followed.

The following variables were studied: general and gynecological characteristics, data concerning any prophylactic procedures, and data concerning the outcome of these patients. Median age at inclusion was 37 years and median follow-up was 54 months.

Among the 156 women who received systematic information about prophylactic mastectomy, 5.3 % decided to undergo surgery within 36 months after disclosure of genetic results. Prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomy was performed in 68 women.

Among women in whom follow-up started between the ages of 40 and 50 years, prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomy was performed, within 24 months after start of follow-up, in 83.7 and 52 % of women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, respectively. Twenty four women developed breast cancer.

Ovarian cancer was detected during prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomy in two women (2.9 %). In this cohort of French women carrying BRCA1/2 mutations, prophylactic mastectomy was a rarely used option. However, good compliance with prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomy was observed. This study confirms the high breast cancer risk in these women.