Overies removed

I am 61yrs old and had a left side MX in June 2013. I seem to read a lot that some women have had their overies removed. Is this a normal thing? Does it happen to all women who have had breast cancer? I have been told that while taking Letrozole I will not get cancer back but this worries me a little. I would appreciate comments on this please.

Hi Melena, please don’t worry about this. I was dx around the same time as you - July 2013 - seems like yesterday, doesn’t it! Hope you are feeling well:)

Definitely not the case that all women have this surgery. It depends on whether you have already gone through the menopause. And if the cancer has hormone receptors. Ovary removal (oophorectomy) is usually done prophelactically in premenopausal women with hormone positive breast cancer. Alternatively there is also a monthly injection Zoladex, that stops the ovaries working.

Being post menopausal means a woman can benefit from an AI like Letrozole. AI’s are believed to be very effective in preventing recurrence or a new primary.

Hope this helps:)
x

I am hormone positive and asked my oncologist about the benefit of having my ovaries removed and she said it would make no difference at all as estrogen is produced in other parts of our bodies too, I thought it seemed an obvious choice as I’m 47 and still having regular periods but apparently not! Jo xx

No songbird,have never heard of it,I’m keen to have mine removed anyway so will discuss it with her again at my next appointment, I’ve got private health care to fall back on so could go that route if need be ,seemed a logical option to me but she was adamant it would make no difference! Xx