Estrogen receptor

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Comments

  • JoAnnDK
    JoAnnDK Member Posts: 275
    Fayard said:

    JoAnn
    I am a little confused. I am assuming my production of estrogen ended with the removal of all my reproductive organ, so this inhibits the growth of any type of cancer alike.

    I am guessing the suppressant for breast cancer is needed because as long as we have our reproductive organ, and period, we are producing estrogen. right?

    estrogen production....
    ....does not end even with the removal of one's reproductive organs. I do think that progesterone production stops, but not estrogen.
  • Fayard
    Fayard Member Posts: 438 Member
    JoAnnDK said:

    estrogen production....
    ....does not end even with the removal of one's reproductive organs. I do think that progesterone production stops, but not estrogen.

    I did not know that. I have
    I did not know that. I have an appointment on November 2 with my onco.
    I will ask him about it.

    Gracias!
  • carolenk
    carolenk Member Posts: 907 Member
    Fayard said:

    I did not know that. I have
    I did not know that. I have an appointment on November 2 with my onco.
    I will ask him about it.

    Gracias!

    Pregnenolone
    JoAnn is sort of correct--estrogen production does not stop with the removal of ovaries. Nor does progesterone or testosterone. The "mother of all sex hormones" is pregnenolone. Do a Google search on the pregnenolone pathway and you will see that sex hormones must be pretty important if there are more than one pathway by which they are produced.

    I think it makes sense to at least ask for a blood test for hormone levels including free and total testosterone levels. Maybe you can get your family doctor to check your hormone levels.

    My oncologist seems to have blinders on regarding hormone therapy...sigh.
  • Double Whammy
    Double Whammy Member Posts: 2,832 Member
    carolenk said:

    Pregnenolone
    JoAnn is sort of correct--estrogen production does not stop with the removal of ovaries. Nor does progesterone or testosterone. The "mother of all sex hormones" is pregnenolone. Do a Google search on the pregnenolone pathway and you will see that sex hormones must be pretty important if there are more than one pathway by which they are produced.

    I think it makes sense to at least ask for a blood test for hormone levels including free and total testosterone levels. Maybe you can get your family doctor to check your hormone levels.

    My oncologist seems to have blinders on regarding hormone therapy...sigh.

    Arimidex
    As I said, I'm on Arimidex for breast cancer. My med onc did say it's sometimes used for endometrial cancer. It probably wouldn't be prescribed for my endo cancer because it was early stage, low grade, but I'm on it anyway. I have no idea if my endo cancer had been a higher stage/grade if I'd be on it. Friends who did have more aggressive endo cancer (UPSC) are not on it.

    From Breastcancer.org:
    Aromatase inhibitors stop the production of estrogen in post-menopausal women. Aromatase inhibitors work by blocking the enzyme aromatase, which turns the hormone androgen into small amounts of estrogen in the body. This means that less estrogen is available to stimulate the growth of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer cells.

    My ovaries may be gone, but I do have more than my share of body fat. My bc was ER+. We assume the endo cancer was too. I don't know if it was tested or not - again, it was early stage, low grade.
  • Pat51
    Pat51 Member Posts: 130
    daisy366 said:

    My doc ordered hormone
    My doc ordered hormone testing on my tissue to determine ER/PR sensitivity - mine was mostly negative. That's what I'm going on. I agree with Jan that docs are trained to TREAT with medicine, tests, etc.

    Daisy366
    Was you tumor also tested for the EGFR gene? If, so was your results negative or positive?

    Pat
  • Fayard
    Fayard Member Posts: 438 Member
    Pat51 said:

    Daisy366
    Was you tumor also tested for the EGFR gene? If, so was your results negative or positive?

    Pat

    EGFR
    I do not know. I re-read my biopsy and could not find anything related to it.
    I have my 3 month appointment with my onco/gyno on November 2.
    I am definitely asking about it.
  • soromer
    soromer Member Posts: 130
    carolenk said:

    Megace is an appetite stimlulant
    JoAnn

    Megace is a synthetic progesterone. I think one of it's primary anti-cancer uses was to protect women on HRT from getting endometrial cancer. The exact way Megace works is not really understood but you could think of it as a hormone suppressor or anti-estrogen therapy.

    What concerns me about the drug is that it has the potential to flip a pre-diabetic into diabetes. It given with recurrent or metastatic cancer as as palliative treatment only. I think doctors want to prescribe SOMETHING for patients--they hate to say "there's nothing left to give you."

    The literature on Megace list it as having steroid-like effects and that abrupt withdrawal of it can be dangerous due to adrenal suppression. I would feel safer on Arimidex--even though it probably costs a fortune.

    It doesn't have that effect on everyone
    Dear Carolenk,

    I had a reaction similar to what you write here, regarding Megace, when my oncologist prescribed it to me last month following disappointing CT results. My sense originally was that it was being offered as a last resort.

    When I confronted my oncologist about it, however, she countered by saying that she has had patients on Megace and nothing else for 10 years. While they still have evidence of disease, they're no worse--and that's definitely a result I could live with. Furthermore, she said that I do have other treatment options (in particular, other chemo agents), but why not try Megace since I am strongly ER and PR+, and it's a relatively easy remedy to tolerate?

    So we'll see in December when I have my next CT scan. Meanwhile, I'm also doing a ton of other complementary therapies, so I am not exactly putting all my eggs in this basket, so to speak.

    And as I noted in my subject line, I am not dealing with increased appetite at all, despite having switched to a vegan diet.

    It behooves us all to acknowledge that while these drugs are indeed dangerous and their mechanisms are often not well-understood, that some of them do work reasonably well for some of us, for some good amount of time. Would that we had something that worked for everyone, every time.
  • daisy366
    daisy366 Member Posts: 1,458 Member
    Pat51 said:

    Daisy366
    Was you tumor also tested for the EGFR gene? If, so was your results negative or positive?

    Pat

    Pat
    Hi,

    My original tissue was tested for hormone sensitivity - not sure if this is EFGR - results were slightly positive, mostly negative. My doc said that hormone treatment would not be effective for me.

    Mary Ann (Daisy)
  • california_artist
    california_artist Member Posts: 816 Member
    daisy366 said:

    Pat
    Hi,

    My original tissue was tested for hormone sensitivity - not sure if this is EFGR - results were slightly positive, mostly negative. My doc said that hormone treatment would not be effective for me.

    Mary Ann (Daisy)

    EGFR
    EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor)
  • Fayard
    Fayard Member Posts: 438 Member
    daisy366 said:

    Pat
    Hi,

    My original tissue was tested for hormone sensitivity - not sure if this is EFGR - results were slightly positive, mostly negative. My doc said that hormone treatment would not be effective for me.

    Mary Ann (Daisy)

    Same here
    That is what my doctor said to me, due to slightly positive receptor.