Re: Tamoxifen and weakly ER positive women?
Hi Becky,
I assume that women who are strongly ER+ receive much more benefit than women who are not strongly ER+. My onc & I did not discuss those strongly ER women as it didn't apply to me. The lower the ER+ the lower the response to Tamoxifen or the AI's. The more questions I ask my doc, the more I seem to find out they don't know. Medicine is not a science - it's an art and an inexact one, at that. They don't know what dose is optimal, they don't know how long one should take Tam or the AI's, they don't know when someone should begin taking them (during Herceptin, or after, and how long after) and then there is the question of becoming resistent to these drugs.
I am starting to feel more like myself since finishing herceptin. It is difficult to pick a day to make myself yucky again. Tamoxifen has so many side effects and the blood clot issues surely scares the heck out of me. I know it is my decision but I'd like to make an informed decision and I don't feel my onc is giving me adequate info, mostly because I guess there just isn't any.
May I ask, Becky, how strongly ER positive you are? Did your onc give you any stats?
Thank you for replying, much appreciated!
Dianne
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Three years and 5 months NED
Dx: Aug 2008 right breast IDC with 50% of tumor DCIS, Stage II or IIA, tumor size: 2.1 cm
Grade 3
8/9 Richardson/Bloom test
ER+ weakly positive
Alred Score: 4 (suggesting I would strongly benefit from hormone therapy)
PR-,
HER2 positive +++
No vascular invasion
No lymph nodes involved
Surgery: Sept. 9, 2008 -Modified radical mastectomy, right breast. I chose to have a simple mastectomy on the left. Began Taxotere/Carboplatin/Herceptin November, 2008. Finished T/C March 2009. Finished #16 Herceptin Sept. 09. AI's and Tamoxifen made me sick. Began natural Tamoxifen which is Quercetin, I3C and a combo of other supplements. I am also a DES Daughter. There is now a link between DES exposure in utero and breast cancer!
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