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CLTann · 05-10-2007, 04:40 PM

Terri,

Sorry that you are in this forum because of your wife's breast cancer, although we are glad that you find a very friendly place. Many here are much more knowledgeable than I on the questions you raised. I will share my opinion on your questions.

Most people here knew me as an advocate of not using chemo and radiation, when there is a questionable, tip on the balance, situation regarding treatments. However, in your wife's case, I would suggest that you should go for chemo after mastectomy. Oopherectomy is certainly recommended for pre menopausal women who are ER/PR positive.

What we should carefully weigh is that when one has nodes involvement, there is a greater chance that microinvasion of cancer cells may already take place. It will take 18 to 24 months for these distant invasions to be detectable by any medical test methods. Therefore, to be on the safe side, your wife should preemptively eliminate the possible microinvasions by chemo and/or radiation.

The removal of hormone generating sources would starve the cancer cells but this mechanism is not a sure way to slow down the cancer growth. One reason is that there are many potential ways for the body to feed the cancer cells. One source is the uterus. Another source is food. There are other parts of body that secret hormones too. Arimidex, Femara, Aromasin and the like have the ability of reducing the hormone level.

On the other side of actively fighting cancer cells, the body should be able to kill the cancer cells by its own immune system. Enchancement of immune mechanism can be achieved by taking right food and medicine. Fish oil, omega 3/omega 6 balance, curcumin, ganoderma, flaxseed powder ground freshly and other vitamins are some herbs/pills come in mind.

Get the Breast book by Dr. Susan Love. It is quite informative.

Good luck.

05-10-2007, 04:40 PM	#2
CLTann Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 476	Terri, Sorry that you are in this forum because of your wife's breast cancer, although we are glad that you find a very friendly place. Many here are much more knowledgeable than I on the questions you raised. I will share my opinion on your questions. Most people here knew me as an advocate of not using chemo and radiation, when there is a questionable, tip on the balance, situation regarding treatments. However, in your wife's case, I would suggest that you should go for chemo after mastectomy. Oopherectomy is certainly recommended for pre menopausal women who are ER/PR positive. What we should carefully weigh is that when one has nodes involvement, there is a greater chance that microinvasion of cancer cells may already take place. It will take 18 to 24 months for these distant invasions to be detectable by any medical test methods. Therefore, to be on the safe side, your wife should preemptively eliminate the possible microinvasions by chemo and/or radiation. The removal of hormone generating sources would starve the cancer cells but this mechanism is not a sure way to slow down the cancer growth. One reason is that there are many potential ways for the body to feed the cancer cells. One source is the uterus. Another source is food. There are other parts of body that secret hormones too. Arimidex, Femara, Aromasin and the like have the ability of reducing the hormone level. On the other side of actively fighting cancer cells, the body should be able to kill the cancer cells by its own immune system. Enchancement of immune mechanism can be achieved by taking right food and medicine. Fish oil, omega 3/omega 6 balance, curcumin, ganoderma, flaxseed powder ground freshly and other vitamins are some herbs/pills come in mind. Get the Breast book by Dr. Susan Love. It is quite informative. Good luck. __________________ Ann Stage 1 dx Sept 05 ER/PR positive HER2 +++ Grade 3 Invasive carcinoma 1 cm, no node involvement Mastec Sept 05 Annual scans all negative, Oct 06 Postmenopause. Arimidex only since Sept 06, bone or muscle ache after 3 month Off Arimidex, change to Femara 1/12-07, ache stopped Sept 07 all tests negative, pass 2 year mark Feb 08 continue doing well. Sep 09 four year NED still on Femara.