I’ve just had my results back from WLE and SLNB. Turned out to be 15mm rather than the 11mm from original biopsy. But all good in that nodes clear and margins clear. So looks to be localised with no further surgery required, and now looking at preventative treatment to reduce risk of recurrence. The BC is hormone receptive +++, but HER-, so i will have to have radiotherapy and hormone tablets. However, the consultant did say i might like to consider chemo as a further preventative measure. This will be discussed in more detail when i have my appointment with the oncologist.
I’ve seen the TNBC thread on this subject for those in a similar situation, but just wondered if there was anybody else out there that wasnt’ TNBC, and if they’d been offered anything similar.
There are a number of things they consider when looking at whether the side-effects of chemo are worth the benefits.
What grade was your tumour? What size was it? Where was it? How old are you? What is your node status? What is your HER2 status?
You already have some of those answers, but in order to put it together they look at the statistics from recent years and try to show you the statistical difference between having chemo and not on your chances of survival after 5 and 10 years. (Not a huge deal of point doing 15 years as medical advances have been so great in the last 15 years.)
Ask your onc to talk to you about your stats. If you’re told you have 92% with chemo and 88% without chemo (just picking numbers out of the air, please don’t quote them!) then you might think that the extra 4% is worth the hardship of going through chemo.
Definitely something to go through in detail with your onc. Good luck with the meeting, and I suggest you bring someone else with you, with a notebook, so if you’re left with things to think about you can get the benefit of the extra pair of ears and the notes that were made.
i was in same position as you, 11mm Grade 3 invasive ductal, no nodes & clear margins, Er & Pr+ Her- & I chose to go ahead with chemo, the extra protection was only about 4 % & i was 40 yrs at Dx.
Thankfully chemo is now becoming a distant memory as i finished in May, i have now also finished Rads & am taking Tamoxifen.
Personally for me it was the right decision, chemo was not as bad as i feared & i know i was very lucky to get through it with little to no real se’s apart from obviously losing my hair & even thats growing back at the rate of knots.
Apart from the Tamoxifen, now treatment is completed i feel that i have thrown all available at it so that i can move on with life, for me this was the right decision as i am a worrier & had i not had the chemo i would of worried that i hadnt chucked all that i could of at it.
Good luck with your decision & feel free to Pm me, its a difficult choice for which the “right” choice will vary for different people & neither choice is the wrong one as Cm says there are many factors to consider.
Same diagnosis as me. mine was invasive ductal 8mm and other smaller sizes, not very good margins.
perhaps its the size, or perhaps it had developed a blood supply.
or are they starting a trial with chemo.
I am 65 with an active life that would be severely be disrupted by chemo. At my age who knows what is round the corner. Before I got my results my mind went through all the possible diagnosis (i think that happens to us all in the waiting room) I decided that if they said i only had a few percent better chance of it not coming back in 10 years after months of chemo I might very well have refused. When it comes to quality of life a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
But i understand the natural reaction to let them throw everything they have got at it, especially if you are younger.
I should also add after surgery lump was found to be 9 mm with no vascualar invasion, i think with me i was one of those borderline cases for chemo & the choice was handed over to me. xx
I was in a similar position to you, but 20mm plus surrounding DCIS with further specks of cancer in it, grade 2, ER+, PR+, HER-, clear nodes. I was 50 (presume you’re 49 from your name).
My onc offered chemo but said it was up to me. He said it would give me another 3% chance of survival. I turned it down since to me it seemed a sledgehammer to crack a nut. I took the offered alternative of Tamoxifen plus Zoladex.
However, I worried a bit whether I was making the right decision and went for a 2nd opinion. The 2nd onc said she regarded it as a large grade 1 and wouldn’t even have bothered to mention chemo! Nor would she have suggested Zoladex and thought Tamoxifen would be fine.
I was then more confident in my decision not to have chemo, but have continued with the Tamoxifen and Zoladex.
Good luck with your decision, it depends so much on personal circumstances.
Thanks for those replies, and yes CheshireCheese I am 49.
It certainly is a lot to consider, and i’ll obviously make my decision based upon my meeting with the oncologist.
Its more difficult when they leave the decision to you to make. I almost wish they’d said they’d do it anyway to cover off all options. Its just looking at the possible SEs and is it a lot to go through for a small percentage. Although i do understand its all doable.
Hi Alibaba49
I felt like you do - “don’t leave the decision to me, you’re the one with the training and experience, tell me what to do”! But I was happier once I’d taken control of my treatment to some extent. If I’d been 10 years younger and/or had children to consider my decision might have been different - who knows. My attitude was also influenced by the fact that both my Mum and her Mum had had BC and were fine afterwards so I didn’t panic as much as I might have done otherwise - if you see what I mean.