Hummer:

nancys

Hi Hummer, I don't have a reply function on the board until I post a new topic but wanted to ask you about the reply you gave to MTRI. You told her that if she was post menopausal she did not want Tamoxifen. I have been on Tamoxifen since the beginning of treatment and recently asked my Onco about changing to Arimidex. He told me he saw no reason to change because I am doing well on Tamoxifen. He told me after the 5 years on Tamoxifen he will put me on Femera for another 2 years. I just passed the 3 years on Tamoxifen and so far my CA27.29 numbers are quite good and mammograms are clean. What info do you have that Tamoxifen is not the drug of choice for post menopausal women like me. I may bring it up again with my Onco on next appt. but I want some good information to throw at him.....I have not posted in awhile but I still read quite often. thanks, Nancy

hummingbyrd

Nancy here are a couple of articles (abstracts actually-have to pay for the articles, but these sum up the findings).
Cancer Res. 2003,Oct 1;63(19)6523-31
Letrozole inhibits tumor proliferation more effectively than tamoxifen independent of HER1/2 status.
J Clin. Onc. 2001,Sep 15;19(18)3808-16 this one is an abstract from PubMed www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov
Another good site is www.breastcancercare.org
On this site it tells you femara is prescribed, sometimes, for primary breast cancer, to shrink the tumor before surgery.
There is also www.femara.com Now the 'official' recommendation is for advanced or metastatic disease or as a follow up to tamoxifen after 5 years. I have two problems with this....first if it is more effective than tamoxifen why not start it first line? Why wait for the cancer to progress?
Second issue is going to contradict previous statement in your case, because my philosophy is if it ain't broke don't fix it. You've been on tamoxifen for 3 years now without disease progression so it must be working for you. I would recommend asking your doc about Indole-3Carbinol, pill form of substance found in cabbage, broccoli, etc. Makes tamoxifen work 33% better, sooo see what he says about that, and consider adding more of these veggies to your diet! Unfortunately, I can't tell you how many servings per week, because there are relatively NO studies done on alternative medicine. No one ever even told me about the cabbage! But that is an issue with me, and our "healthcare system".
Hope this helps. God bless!
hummer

jeancmici

hummingbyrd said:

Nancy here are a couple of articles (abstracts actually-have to pay for the articles, but these sum up the findings).
Cancer Res. 2003,Oct 1;63(19)6523-31
Letrozole inhibits tumor proliferation more effectively than tamoxifen independent of HER1/2 status.
J Clin. Onc. 2001,Sep 15;19(18)3808-16 this one is an abstract from PubMed www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov
Another good site is www.breastcancercare.org
On this site it tells you femara is prescribed, sometimes, for primary breast cancer, to shrink the tumor before surgery.
There is also www.femara.com Now the 'official' recommendation is for advanced or metastatic disease or as a follow up to tamoxifen after 5 years. I have two problems with this....first if it is more effective than tamoxifen why not start it first line? Why wait for the cancer to progress?
Second issue is going to contradict previous statement in your case, because my philosophy is if it ain't broke don't fix it. You've been on tamoxifen for 3 years now without disease progression so it must be working for you. I would recommend asking your doc about Indole-3Carbinol, pill form of substance found in cabbage, broccoli, etc. Makes tamoxifen work 33% better, sooo see what he says about that, and consider adding more of these veggies to your diet! Unfortunately, I can't tell you how many servings per week, because there are relatively NO studies done on alternative medicine. No one ever even told me about the cabbage! But that is an issue with me, and our "healthcare system".
Hope this helps. God bless!
hummer

>>No one ever even told me about the cabbage!

Stuffed cabbage is ALWAYS good! :-)

hummingbyrd

jeancmici said:

>>No one ever even told me about the cabbage!

Stuffed cabbage is ALWAYS good! :-)

Hey Jean, I never had stuffed cabbage. Have you got a recipe?
hummer

jeancmici

hummingbyrd said:

Hey Jean, I never had stuffed cabbage. Have you got a recipe?
hummer

I don't cook - much.

I'll ask a friend.

SweetSue

hummingbyrd said:

Hey Jean, I never had stuffed cabbage. Have you got a recipe?
hummer

I made up my own recipe that everyone seems to like. I combine cooked ground round, cooked rice, chopped onion, garlic powder, and tomato paste......don't really know any measurements....typically I like less meat and more onions than most people. I boil the cabbage until leaves are softened. Roll the meat mixture in the cabbage, and place the rolls in a baking pot filled with tomato soup. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.....soup is bubbling.

susievr

SweetSue said:

I made up my own recipe that everyone seems to like. I combine cooked ground round, cooked rice, chopped onion, garlic powder, and tomato paste......don't really know any measurements....typically I like less meat and more onions than most people. I boil the cabbage until leaves are softened. Roll the meat mixture in the cabbage, and place the rolls in a baking pot filled with tomato soup. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.....soup is bubbling.

I have a great recipe for cabbage. It is a pork and cabbage casserole. I too don't have exact proportions, but you would get the idea. You take diced pork, chopped onion, chopped cabbage. You fry the pork and the onion in vegetable oil. When the pork is browned slightly and the onion soft, add the cabbage to the pan. This is where it gets tricky as I have forgotten how much of everything, but you use corn starch, a can of pineapple, white vinegar and brown sugar with some meat stock or similar seasoning.

Put the vinegar (about a Tbsp) in a jug and add 3 Tbsp of cornstarch and mix. Add stock or water, and pineapple juice. Add a little Worcestershire sauce. You can change the proportions of these items to taste, it should taste kind of like a sweet and sour sauce, and be coating the meat and veggies.

Peel some smallish potatoes and cut into quarters. Coat the potatoes with vegetable oil and place on top of the finished dish.

Either simmer it on the stove top until the meat and cabbage are tender, or bake it in the oven with a lid on. If in the oven, remove the lid for the last hour and turn up the oven. You want the potatoes to brown on the outside, but be soft in the middle.