Howdy Gina, it’s great to hear from you! I must admit that this research on the positive effects of phytoestrogens is somewhat surprising and I was specifically thinking of you when I posted this, knowing that you thought the her2+ hormonal negative pathway could be abrogated via estrogen. Now there is some research that MAY indirectly support your theories, at least as far as phyto-estrogens are concerned. I would think the sooner a phyto-estrogen diet would be started in hormonal negatives, the more effective, particularly to possibly prevent conversion to hormonal negative status and to control her2.
Gina, as I recall, you said that when you monitored your serum her2, it went down when you had your period (this is when your estrogen levels were high) and up when your period was gone or when you estrogen was lowest. Is that right? Perhaps, as the phyto-estrogens have a negative impact on the her2 pathway, so do natural or biologically similar estrogens, as in your case. However, I'm not so sure I would advocate HRT as a replacement for phyto-estrogens as this article specifically addresses phytoestrogens and we know that BCL2 is decreased, estrogen Alpha, her2 pathway with phyto-estrogens. Although we do not know that the same holds true for natural estrogen or HRT, as research study is lacking here. Furthermore, probably phyto-estrogens in one's diet is probably safer than HRT, considering the negative impact of HRT on blood clotting, in some cases new bc development, etc.
Now, phytoestrogens are very ubiquitous and are virtually everywhere in fruits, herbal teas, healthy olive oils and vegetables. In fact, if you really wanted to eat a healthy diet with fruits and vegetables, it would be difficult to avoid phyto-estrogens. Therefore, many of us have to realize that we are already getting a substantial amount of phyto-estrogens in our diet, whether we want to or not. Perhaps, this level would be increased even further, as the article suggested, with soy and green tea. Yes, I was surprised green tea was much more potent than soy in phyto-estrogen content. Funny, you never hear people posting about being afraid of green tea; yet, I frequently see posts about avoiding soy. Well, I've been drinking green tea pretty frequently since my diagnosis and I will continue since it prevents proliferation of the her2 pathway and since I’m hormonal negative.
By the way, Gina, this is thinking out of the box, but thats what you're best at... I wonder if estrogen manipulation may be used in the future during bc treatment. I see a role for anti estrogens for her2+ hormonal negatives during Herceptin treatment where you would want a low level of estrogen to increase the her2 pathway so that the Herceptin could optimally be used in that pathway, thus, destroying more cancerous cells.
On the other side of the coin, I wonder if estrogen therapy or HRT will be used for hormonal negatives? I don't think so as the HABITS trial, a trial where those with bc were given HRT, was stopped early due to increased incidence of bc, even in hormonal negatives. The Stockhomn trial of the HABITS did not see an increase in bc events but that trial used progesterin sequentially every few months rather than continuously. I gather progesterin is particularly a bad combination with estrogen, where it facilitates bc growth. Having the results of the HABITS trial makes one question the value of HRT, even in hormonal negatives. However, I must say other studies do not always agree with the HABITS and show no increased bc event risks. All the inconsistencies makes for confusion.
As far as hormones go, I do wonder if it is safe menstruating and having your own hormones circulating, even if you are hormonal negative. I did note that in the ATAC study, a small percentage of hormonal negatives did not benefit from aromatase inhibitors and we know they don't benefit from tamoxifen. In fact, tamoxifen is deleterious to hormonal negatives and increases the number of bc events; furthermore, tamoxifen didn't decrease contra lateral bc. I must admit there is not enough research on the safety of menstruating while having hormonal negative bc. However, from the little research done, it appears safer to menstruate than to take tamoxifen or AIs.
PS. I can see why your own estrogen, phytoestogens and HRT may decrease distant bone mets as bone turn over is decreased with estrogen therapy. The same would hold true for biphosphonates. See supporting article links where the study analyzed women who had taken HRT prior to diagnosis vs. those who had not:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...0953803c9fc1f6
http://www.oncolink.com/resources/ar...nth=5&id=14166
http://www.asco.org/portal/site/ASCO...abstractID=229
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