arimedex and reoccurance

tlmac said:

If you're looking for numbers, each study will give you a variation on those. The truth is, 25% of us will not respond to surgery, chemotherapy or hormone blocking drugs like Tamoxifen, Arimidex or Femara. The National electronic Library for Medicine (British I believe) has published an Arimidex study with the following results:
- The risk of dying was reduced by 29%
- The risk of the disease returning was reduced by 45%
- The risk of the disease spreading from the breast to other parts of the body was reduced by 39%
Of course, studies are just collections of numbers and each of us is so much more than that. Her2 status as well as stage and grade of the original cancer would have an effect as well. I've been taking it for 2.5 years and I admit it's not without some pretty uncomfortable side effects but I still feel safer with it. Only you know if your quality of life is so affected that you'd rather take your chances. Good luck with your decision.
terri

I am on arimidex too. I have some very uncomfortable side effects and still remain on the medication. My oncologist says it is the best one for me. He does monitor my tolerence to the side effects. So this is good.


the first time dx was in 2000 for DCIS in left breast. mascectomy done.

In 2003 second DX,I had invasive lobular cancer, stage 3a, 5 out of 18 nodes cancerous,right breast. I am estrogen, progestrone positive and HER2 neu positive. Had mascetomy on right, chemo, radiation after.

I am glad to know that it reduces the risk of reoccurance. It gives comfort to feeling safe as possible from cancer again.

I am taking fosamax for bone density. arimidex tends to cause some trouble there for me. It exhacerbates my arthrits. so bone and joints are troublesome with pain and stiffness. inflammation. that stuff. I live in Minnesota so the winters are a challange for me.

My tumor markers are within normal limits. Sometimes I wonder about that because it is usually at the high end of the normative limits. Last scans indicated no cancer cells. This is a good sign. (I think mine was considered moderatly agressive type, without looking at pathology report)

I will stick with arimidex. Also, my oncologist said that the othere meds similar to arimidex have the same or similar side effects so more than likely it would not make a difference for me in less side effects.

So all is of an individual nature and serious thought to decisions.

Enough of my chatter. Hope it is somewhat helpful.
Take care. And good health to all in the New Year!
Roxanne

I'm quoting the article, published at breastcancer.org, that explains why some statistics seem lower than others in comparing the effectiveness of tamoxifen vs arimidex.
"Generally, when people want to make results sound more impressive, they use the relative comparison. When they want to suggest that the difference between two treatments is small, they use the absolute numbers. In absolute terms, 90% of the women taking Arimidex were tumor-free at the time of this initial analysis, while 88% of the women taking tamoxifen were. This means that the absolute risk reduction of Arimidex vs. tamoxifen was 2%. Translation: In the Arimidex group, 2% fewer women had a recurrence of their breast cancer, as compared to the tamoxifen group. When the analysis of Arimidex vs. tamoxifen was limited to only those women with hormone-receptor-positive tumors (the type of breast cancer most likely to respond to hormonal therapies), the advantage of Arimidex over tamoxifen was a little bit larger. The relative risk of recurrence was 22% less for women taking Arimidex than for women taking tamoxifen."
I can only tell you that I have 2 close friends who began with tamoxifen shortly before I began taking arimidex. One has suffered a local recurrence in her underarm lymph nodes and one passed away from her disease 2 months ago. Another in my Reach to Recovery support group, who was stage III grade 3 with 8 positive lymph nodes at the time of her diagnosis is alive and healthy. She arrived at her 5 year anniversary in November and her medical team is now trying to determine if extending the arimidex will extend her disease free survival. Remember, too, that tamoxifen comes with it's own set of side effects, the risk of uterine cancer and blood clots being two. Cancer can be a death sentence but the powerful drugs used to treat it alter the natural design of our bodies and ultimately affect the quality of our lives. If you compare your life today with your life before breast cancer you will be saddened at the loss of quality. I prefer to compare my life today to death, which was my prognosis without surgery or treatment. I feel extremely lucky just to be alive. Sometimes it a matter of perspective.
terri

tlmac said:

I'm quoting the article, published at breastcancer.org, that explains why some statistics seem lower than others in comparing the effectiveness of tamoxifen vs arimidex.
"Generally, when people want to make results sound more impressive, they use the relative comparison. When they want to suggest that the difference between two treatments is small, they use the absolute numbers. In absolute terms, 90% of the women taking Arimidex were tumor-free at the time of this initial analysis, while 88% of the women taking tamoxifen were. This means that the absolute risk reduction of Arimidex vs. tamoxifen was 2%. Translation: In the Arimidex group, 2% fewer women had a recurrence of their breast cancer, as compared to the tamoxifen group. When the analysis of Arimidex vs. tamoxifen was limited to only those women with hormone-receptor-positive tumors (the type of breast cancer most likely to respond to hormonal therapies), the advantage of Arimidex over tamoxifen was a little bit larger. The relative risk of recurrence was 22% less for women taking Arimidex than for women taking tamoxifen."
I can only tell you that I have 2 close friends who began with tamoxifen shortly before I began taking arimidex. One has suffered a local recurrence in her underarm lymph nodes and one passed away from her disease 2 months ago. Another in my Reach to Recovery support group, who was stage III grade 3 with 8 positive lymph nodes at the time of her diagnosis is alive and healthy. She arrived at her 5 year anniversary in November and her medical team is now trying to determine if extending the arimidex will extend her disease free survival. Remember, too, that tamoxifen comes with it's own set of side effects, the risk of uterine cancer and blood clots being two. Cancer can be a death sentence but the powerful drugs used to treat it alter the natural design of our bodies and ultimately affect the quality of our lives. If you compare your life today with your life before breast cancer you will be saddened at the loss of quality. I prefer to compare my life today to death, which was my prognosis without surgery or treatment. I feel extremely lucky just to be alive. Sometimes it a matter of perspective.
terri

I agree. I feel very fortunate to have this option at all to keep me above ground!!
I am fortunate to be here and to continue the path on this earth.
I cope with the side effects as best that I can and know that it is the best thing for me to keep on it.
Take care !!!
roxanne53