I am 68 years old and had WLE and SNLB 3 weeks ago. Margins all clear and nodes negative. I have been told I have a Nottingham index prognosis score of 3.15 which I understand means that my prognosis is good. I will have 15 radiotherapy next month . The MDT has said I should start to take Letrozole now for five years. Surgeon said it is not for my current treatment but is preventative. I have said I want a dexa scan first and that I want my radio over and a short break to get over all the emotional and physical hurt and will then decide if I want to take it. How do people decide on the risks and benefits of Letrozole as I know some of the side effects can be really bad. I have used the nhs Predict calculator which suggest that over 10 years I would be 1% better off with taking it but not really sure what that means.
I had a similar prognosis. Since then It is proven in trials that Letrozole has very great benefit in preventing recurrences, this is different of course from overall survival as shown by the on-line tools and needs to be born in mind when using them. I haven’t got the report in front of me at the moment but I think the stats. were something like 60% fewer recurrences in the group taking Letrozole. Many women are now advised to take letrozole for longer, dependant on their individual case, as a result of these trials. If you decide to go ahead with Letrozole you will probably have the dexa scan every two years following your base-line scan and may be prescribed a bisphosphonate as well to prevent damage to your bones. I think the general advice, though, is to start Letrozole treatment as soon as possible, Some consultants start women on at it at diagnosis rather than wait until after the op. Please don’t think that it is certain you will experience bad side effects, of course some women have done and have ceased the treatment because of it, but there are many women taking it beyond 5 years ( I know several) who have noticed no effects at all. I was a bit stiff when getting up in the mornings but that wore off in about half an hour. My bones were monitored as I describe. At the end of the five years, had I been advised to take it for longer I would have done so.
Hi - I’m 62 years old and had a right sided mastectomy on 24th September. I had a ‘known’ area of IDC and following the operation the histology showed I also had an area of DCIS and other abnormal breast tissue in various area’s of the breast.
When I went to get my results a couple of weeks after surgery the consultant prescribed me with Letrozole and a calcium supplement (adcal). I was given a leaflet on the drug and was told the benefits of taking the drug out weighed any possible side effects I might get, and that I should give the drug a ‘good go’.
I was sent for a base line DEXA scan as a matter of course, as one of the side effects of Letrozole is osteoporosis.
I got the results of the DEXA scan this week and low and behold I already have osteoporosis - I had no idea I had it (and obviously it’s nothing to do with me taking Letrozole as I’ve only been taking it for about a month.
I have been advised to continue with the Letzerole and have been prescribed an extra medication - alendronic acid to be taken once a week. I think this new drug should ‘rebuild’ or strengthen my bones and I still take the daily adcal as well.
I will have a DEXA scan yearly to check on my on going bone health.
I haven’t had too many side effects with the Letrozole - felt a bit sick when I first started taking them but thats settling down now - little bit achy but nothing major so far.?
I’m ‘happy’ to take Letrozole if it means it prevents the cancer coming back.
Don’t know if this helps you at all - it’s a personal ‘thing’ I guess.
I have been told I have a 2% benefit in taking Letrozole - the doctor told me if there were 50 women in a room with the same profile as me after 10 years 49 women will have taken Letrizole for nothing and 1 woman would only be alive because she had taken the drug… I will start taking it after my Rsduation therapy and see how it goes…