Hi All,
Has anyone seen this from today’s Daily Express?
express.co.uk/posts/view/132061/Breast-cancer-secrets-cracked/
Could be that it’s just one of many pink October articles, but interesting for hormone positive ladies nevertheless…
LXXX
Also on BBC website
The Daily Express heading I do not think reflects what the item is reporting, a pity.
Agreed! I don’t like the headline much either…guess they sell more papers that way!
LXXX
perhaps the heading isnt the best but I found the content informative and a far cry of the usual pink october success stories … i.e.
,Professor Jack Cuzick, Cancer Research UK epidemiologist, said: “For most cancers, if you are disease-free after five years, it’s a pretty good indicator that you are cured. That is not the case for oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer. The sure thing is that the recurrence rate means that you can’t say you are cured. There has to be continued vigilance for many years.”
I am triple + and found it an interesting and hopefully promising read.
Debbie
Being ER+ , I found that very depressing to read. Or am I missing the point ???
Anna 
I was told by an oncologist 2 years ago that if you get to 5 years they say you are “technically cured”, although that’s not to say it won’t come back.
I wish someone had told my cancer that - it came back after 12 years!
Mine too. Eight years.
Hi everyone,
I have decided once i have got shut of mine its not coming back, ever. Or is that the steroids talking??
I didn’t post to depress, I just thought it was an honest comment and not the usual pink fluff branded around in PINK October.
There is always so many comments on this site that woman are fed up of being portrayed as cured when we know too well that breast cancer works different to other cancers.
Debbie
living 4 years NED with really crap prognosis, this is why I really do take a genuine interest in these articles.
Hi Debbie,
I agree that this is a far more honest and realistic approach to Pink October. People talking about all clears and cures really annoys me because it just isn’t like that.
Eliza
For me the thought of the virtual inevitability of it coming back and of never being able to think I am “cured” just makes me feel like giving up right now…it’s as if there’s no point and no hope.
Sorry to sound so negative. Having a bad day
(having a little weep)
Anna x
ps not having a go at anyone, just venting my feelings…
oh Anna - am sorry you are feeling so down - of course there’s a point in carrying on and there’s hope.
I am of the get a grip and get on with it school of thought (applied to myself - I don’t expect anyone else to do this as everyone has their own ways of dealing with stuff ) and possibly rather arrogantly go around thinking I’m fine and will be fine- am trying to do the same with regard to any tamoxifen side effects - if I don’t look for them,I won’t find them…just my way of dealing with it. Hope things look a bit brighter soon. xx
I have just had a look at the Express article and then went to the programme article on the NCRI website - link is here
ncri.org.uk/ncriconference/programme/speakerAbstracts/2009Plen_Larry_Norton.asp. His main concern seems to be that radiotherapy is needed for WLE to prevent rogue cells from breaking off and wide margins are not enough. This may help people decide whether to have radiotherapy or not.
The problem with reading about any research is that it is very scary because they are looking at huge populations. Yes, breast cancer may return and metastsise, but there again, it may not - it is not a dead certainty. If it does return, it may return many years later, by which time you may be so old that you are going to die of something anyway - does that make sense? I know that is cold comfort if you are very young when diagnosed, but most women are not, so if diagnosed in their seventies, the cancer may return in their eighties or nineties.
I understand how hopeless it may seem to some, that the cancer will get you in the end, but as we are all mortal, something has to kill us off eventually and in the meantime, for those of us fortunate enough not to have secondaries at the moment, lets just embrace the fact that today we are healthy and sod tomorrow.
Dear Anna,
Nothing is ‘inevitable’ and we cannot second guess life at all.
I was diagnosed with secondaries in April 08 and my life fell apart.
While I was, woe is me this is the end, my fit and healthy work colleague just dropped down dead after Christmas. I felt so stupid and pathetic.
None of us know that moment. Think about people in earthquakes, tsunamis and random accidents.
What many of us feel aggrieved about the misconception of five years and you are clear. This is not only the general public but doctors and sadly breast care nurses!
What we are asking for is simply vigilance beyond the five year mark and that GP’s in particular take symptoms (such as back ache ) seriously.
Sadly, some people can get a recurrence, new primary or secondaries after 20 years. Others can die of a heart attack, stroke or other unrelated illness. It is just life and the world we live in… Julie
Cathy
I read the article in your link. I find it both depressing and encouraging. On the one hand, since my mother had bc which spread to her bones, I am concerned about the genetic link - but on the other, maybe they will develop drugs in time for those of us who are newly diagnosed.
The sentinel node tested during my surgery was clear, but I don’t yet know if I have lympho-vascular invasion, as I get my post-op results tomorrow.
Ann x
Hi all
Sorry about my outburst last night, I was feeling particularly rubbish and self pitying.Thank you for the helpful comments.
I feel much better today…don’t know why. Could be Tamoxifen- induced mood swings, or could be due to radiologist telling me I didn’t look old enough to have a 10 year old daughter at my rads session this morning!
will try not to post such self-indulgent rot in future !
Anna x
Anna
Post away!!!
Ann x