ovary removal??

tan39
tan39 Member Posts: 49
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
hi again everyone, as usual coming here for some good advice before i talk to my onc. Has anyone had or considered ovary removal, read up on it, apparantly can reduce chances of cancer in other breast and of course ovarian cancer (if family history). I have right mastectomy and naturally am concerned my Left breast will get it and am ER+, any advice or input would be great, hugs to all , Tan x

Comments

  • mmontero38
    mmontero38 Member Posts: 1,510
    #2
    Hi Tan:
    I spoke to both my gyn and my onc regarding removing the ovaries and they felt that in my situation it wasn't necessary. I tested negative in the BRAC testing as I thought I would since there is no cancer history in my family, me being the lucky first. My drs felt that by taking the tamoxifen, that would be enough in blocking any estrogen my body would be producing. I also like you had a right mastectomy with 8 rounds of cytoxan/adriamycin, and my nodes tested negative. See what your onc recommends and let us know. Love ya, Lili
  • tan39
    tan39 Member Posts: 49
    #3
    thanks Lili,
    i will be on tamoxifen when finished chemo so i suppose i will be advised same as yourself, will let you know what my onc.says. take care x
  • kbc4869
    kbc4869 Member Posts: 159
    #4
    Hi Tan,

    I had this conversation with my onc about a month ago. I am currently on Tamoxifin (non-BRCA). My 5 years on Tamoxifin will end next year, so I asked if having my ovaries removed would increase my survivial rate. He felt that having the ovaries removed in of itself would not increase my chances; he did say that if I had them removed after Tamoxifin, and was then able to start on Femara (since I would be menopausal) could slightly increase my survival rate by a small percentage like 3%. He felt in my case, the ovary removal alone would not be beneficial. Hope this helps. I'll be interested in what your onc has to say.

    Love,
    Kim
  • cabbott
    cabbott Member Posts: 1,039 Member
    #5
    Ovaries produce a lot of hormones, many of which are beneficial to our well-being. Estrogen produced by the ovaries strengthens bone tissue, for example. A leading cause of early death in females is osteoporosis. Surgical menapause puts you more at risk for a broken hip, posture problems, not to mention hotter flashes and more of them. However, if you test positive for BRCA 1 or 2, you are at high risk for ovarian cancer. Who cares if you have strong bones or not at 70 if you die in your 50's of ovarian cancer? There is no definate test for ovarian cancer other than taking the things out and checking under a microscope: no biopsy, no mammogram, and the ultrasound is not foolproof either. The blood tests are also super iffy for proving, one way or the other, that you have ovarian cancer. So if you KNOW you are at high risk, don't hesitate to take them out immediately. But if you are not at high risk, understand that standard of care for the last several years is to leave them in place and use tamoxifen to reduce the risk of breast cancer in the opposite breast. Tamoxifen plus regular breast checks works or the doctors would still be yanking ovaries, andrenal glands, and other hormone makers. The history of what they have yanked in the past is scary to me, but I've read up on it anyhow. One doctor explained to me that everyone with breast cancer also used to get nose surgery. I really didn't want to know what they yanked back there. Currently doing more surgery than than recommended doesn't improve survival or reoccurance chances, so it just isn't done. There are side effects to all surgical procedures. If the payoff isn't big enough, the surgery is not recommended. Some people can't sleep if they don't do a certain procedure recommended or not. Only you can decide that. But unless you have tested at high risk for ovarian cancer, think twice about it.

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