Too chemo or not to chemo

Borisette

Morning all... I don't know what to do... I have a grade one and a grade two estrogen positive her neg with a ki67 of 20...
7 weeks ago I had my mx with reconstruction. My onco said chemo would be worth it with around a 14% gain!!! Until they add
Into the factor the I had a rear tumor not related to my breast removed from my sinus and am recieving rad at the moment..
They say with that my gain would now only be around 4%.
My head says do I really want to go throu the chemo thing!! My heart says why treat one and not the other.... If they were
Treating these at different times there would be no question....
Thoughts please

NancyJac

I'm not really sure I am
I'm not really sure I am understanding what you are saying about treating one and not the other. I am assuming that is why chemo is being recommended because you have more that one tumor. Since chemo is systemic and acts on cancer any where in the body, it would be attacking any tumors in both locations. I also don't know what you mean by 14 vs 4% gain. Gain of what?

Borisette

NancyJac said:

I'm not really sure I am
I'm not really sure I am understanding what you are saying about treating one and not the other. I am assuming that is why chemo is being recommended because you have more that one tumor. Since chemo is systemic and acts on cancer any where in the body, it would be attacking any tumors in both locations. I also don't know what you mean by 14 vs 4% gain. Gain of what?

Yes two different unrelated
Yes two different unrelated tumors.. But as the non breast cancer tumor is more likely to cause me harm they are less positive about treating the BC with chemo as the gains will be less. They say the chemo will not do anything for the neuroblastoma...

NancyJac

Borisette said:

Yes two different unrelated
Yes two different unrelated tumors.. But as the non breast cancer tumor is more likely to cause me harm they are less positive about treating the BC with chemo as the gains will be less. They say the chemo will not do anything for the neuroblastoma...

I'm sure there is medical
I'm sure there is medical logic to that statement but it totally escapes me. Maybe a second opinion might help you make an informed decision?

camul

Borisette said:

Yes two different unrelated
Yes two different unrelated tumors.. But as the non breast cancer tumor is more likely to cause me harm they are less positive about treating the BC with chemo as the gains will be less. They say the chemo will not do anything for the neuroblastoma...

Sounds like the chemo for
Sounds like the chemo for the neuroblastoma would not be effective on the BC, and the same to be said for the chemo for the cancer in the sinuses, and that the neuroblastoma is a higher priority at this time....

I would talk to the doctor and see if once you finish the treatment for the neuroblastoma, if you then had chemo for the bc, if that would up the odds? Hard decision on what you should do. I would talk to your onco and see what the he thinks! Hard decisions ahead!

I wish you the best, These decisions are so difficult.

Carol

Gabe N Abby Mom

I don't know enough about
I don't know enough about the sinus tumor to be of any help. But I do know treatment decisions are incredibly difficult. My triple neg inflammatory BC is incredibly aggressive, so I always opt for the more aggressive treatments. I never want to look back and say "If I had only done..."

Best wishes. Please let us know how you're doing.

Hugs,

Linda

Lynn Smith

Gabe N Abby Mom said:

I don't know enough about
I don't know enough about the sinus tumor to be of any help. But I do know treatment decisions are incredibly difficult. My triple neg inflammatory BC is incredibly aggressive, so I always opt for the more aggressive treatments. I never want to look back and say "If I had only done..."

Best wishes. Please let us know how you're doing.

Hugs,

Linda

I didn't need chemo
I didn't need chemo.Non Invasive DCIS tumor size 1/2 centimeter.No node involvement.Made things easy for me.BUT I feel like Linda "What if I had only done it Would things be different".So I would do it for that reason.Don't worry about what if??

Lynn Smith

DianeBC

camul said:

Sounds like the chemo for
Sounds like the chemo for the neuroblastoma would not be effective on the BC, and the same to be said for the chemo for the cancer in the sinuses, and that the neuroblastoma is a higher priority at this time....

I would talk to the doctor and see if once you finish the treatment for the neuroblastoma, if you then had chemo for the bc, if that would up the odds? Hard decision on what you should do. I would talk to your onco and see what the he thinks! Hard decisions ahead!

I wish you the best, These decisions are so difficult.

Carol

I really don't understand
I really don't understand enough about what you have in order to even give advice. We all have to make our own decisions, whether they are right or wrong. You are in control of that.

Just talk to your onco further about the chemo and make your decision based on how you feel.


I wish you good luck and let us know.


Hugs, Diane

SIROD

What About Hormonal Therapy?
Dear Borisette,

I don't know how old you are and if you are pre - menopausal or post. You mention that you are ER Positive, perhaps a hormonal drug therapy might be just as good as chemotherapy. Tamoxifen if you are pre otherwise there is the 3 types of aromatase inhibitors and Faslodex.

With my last recurrence the tumor board suggested chemotherapy for my widespread pulmonary & pleural metastasis. My oncologist was on vacation and was not at the tumor board review meeting. My oncologist who had treated me for years suggested I try a hormonal drug at the time. I went on Faslodex and it immediately made the cancer stable. I am now 4 years out from that time and have only done hormonal drugs. In fact, I have only had this sort of treatment to keep me for 17+ years.

Depending on where you are in the menopausal sphere, perhaps hormonal therapy is all you need.

Wishing you the best,

Doris

Angie2U

Lynn Smith said:

I didn't need chemo
I didn't need chemo.Non Invasive DCIS tumor size 1/2 centimeter.No node involvement.Made things easy for me.BUT I feel like Linda "What if I had only done it Would things be different".So I would do it for that reason.Don't worry about what if??

Lynn Smith

My breast surgeon got clean
My breast surgeon got clean margins with my lumpectomy and the sentinel node was clean, so, I did not need chemo. I did have rad treatments after a few weeks of healing with my lumpectomy.

I just wanted to say good luck in whatever you do.


Hugs, Angie

survivorbc09

SIROD said:

What About Hormonal Therapy?
Dear Borisette,

I don't know how old you are and if you are pre - menopausal or post. You mention that you are ER Positive, perhaps a hormonal drug therapy might be just as good as chemotherapy. Tamoxifen if you are pre otherwise there is the 3 types of aromatase inhibitors and Faslodex.

With my last recurrence the tumor board suggested chemotherapy for my widespread pulmonary & pleural metastasis. My oncologist was on vacation and was not at the tumor board review meeting. My oncologist who had treated me for years suggested I try a hormonal drug at the time. I went on Faslodex and it immediately made the cancer stable. I am now 4 years out from that time and have only done hormonal drugs. In fact, I have only had this sort of treatment to keep me for 17+ years.

Depending on where you are in the menopausal sphere, perhaps hormonal therapy is all you need.

Wishing you the best,

Doris

I am wishing you all the
I am wishing you all the best in your decision!

Hugs, Jan

Noel

Gabe N Abby Mom said:

I don't know enough about
I don't know enough about the sinus tumor to be of any help. But I do know treatment decisions are incredibly difficult. My triple neg inflammatory BC is incredibly aggressive, so I always opt for the more aggressive treatments. I never want to look back and say "If I had only done..."

Best wishes. Please let us know how you're doing.

Hugs,

Linda

I didn't need chemo either,
I didn't need chemo either, but, if I would have, I would have wanted to know the percentages of help that it would have done also. There is a test that I can't think of now that is only done in California that is suppose to help to show you about chemo. Maybe someone here can tell you the name and you could ask your onco about that test.

Good luck,


Noel