I was diagnosed with ‘malignant; invasive ductal carcinoma NST + DCIS. Strong positive for oestrogen receptor = 8’ at the end of January. I am due to go in for a mastectomy and SNLB next Tuseday, 15th.
I have thought about my lifestyle and past events. I was married for the first time at 18; had my first child at 19 and my second a year later. I also had a third child at 33. I breast fed all my children, the third until he was 3 years of age. I have never smoked and have hardly had any alcohol, only on very special occasions. The only risk factor I can bring to mind is that, due to extremely bad menopausal symptoms, I had HRT for quite a few years.
When reading about HRT there is always the proviso that it can cause a slight increase in the incidence of BC within the whole female population. What I would like to ask the experts is: 'Is is feasible to devise a test that women can take when contemplating taking HRT to find out whether or not they are oestrogen receptive? If they are in the ‘high’ end of the scale and were told they had a higher chance of developing oestrogen-receptive BC, they could opt not to take it. On the other hand, if they were told they were at the ‘low’ end, they could probably take it with no higher incidence than the normal population.
I would like to know if this could be a possibility. HRT was the only thing that really helped with my symptoms but if I had known that I had a greater chance of developing oestrogen-receptor BC than another woman, I may have tried to cope with the symptoms without it.
I am really not beating myself up about the BC. I only wondered because at the time HRT was a godsend. My symptoms from menopause were horrendous and of course, now I have stopped they have come back again. There are many women for whom HRT would be fantastic if it weren’t for the fact that it puts up the incidence of oestrogen-receptive BC. I thought if there were a test that could be taken at the time, HRT could be given to only those women for whom it did no harm.
As far as I am aware it is the tumour that is hormone positive not the person. So I don’t think that there could be a test before BC is diagnosed. Also I think there are people who have, say, a hormone negative tumour, and then get a recurrence that turns out to be hormone positive and vice versa.
Also don’t forget that although lifestyle plays a part, recent statistics suggested that only 42% of breast cancers are caused by lifestyle. The other 58% are down to genetics and plain random bad luck.
Hi Mary Grace
There is already an interesting and fairly recent thread on the wider subject of WHY. It’s called “Breast Cancer, the Bigger Picture.” I am sure you would find it interesting but I’m afraid I’m not sure how to ’ bring it up for you - not very computer literate.
My own post on Page 6 of that post gives similarities in my history with yours- especially re taking HRT. I would do the same again with HRT as it is only one among many other factors- but as you say, if there was some way of testing which of us might be much more oestrogen receptive than others maybe I would have tried to put up with the awful hot flushes! (I 'm getting even worse ones now on arimidex- double punishment!)
This comment may or may not help you, but there is no history of BC in my family at all. I have never tried HRT. I had my only child at the age of 38. In 2007 at the age of 53 I was diagnosed with high grade DCIS.
What I’m trying to say is, it seems to be something that just happens. OK maybe lifestyles can be involved, but there’s no real proof.
I’ve searched and searched trying to pin-point why…but never find a solution, so I’ve let it go.
We all have circulating oestrogen even those post menopausal (via body fat). You can’t test the person in anyway to see if they’re likely to get an ER+ cancer - at least not yet. The tumour develops and most but not all are fuelled by oestrogen.
everybody has oestrogen and you could do all the right things and still get bc and all the wrong things and not get it…
these factors dont cause breast cancer otherwise everybody who was obese, drank alcohol, never breast fed or didnt have kids would all have breast cancer.
just that these things increase your risk but doesnt mean taht its a certainty you will get cancer… driving a car is a risk factor for a traffic accident but doesnt mean you will definitely be involved in one and even if we decided that driving was too risky there are no guarantees that somebody elses car wont come off the road and knock you over when you were walking.
lots of things increase our risk for certain disorders or events eg flying increases you risk of getting a dvt… however joe public has a 5 in 100000 risk of getting a dvt so flying still means that its very unlikely for it to happen to you… but breast cancer is very common currently a 1 in 8 risk of getting it so many people going about their ordinary lives will get bc.
ER +ve cancers are the most common type they are generally the ones with a better outcome and respond well to treatment and often dont require chemotherapy.
when women are prescribed HRT they are informed there is an increased risk of BC but this is a small increased risk but they have to weigh up the benefits from taking HRT with the risk of getting breast cancer… some women will choose not to take it based on this risk.
Hi, I’ve only just joined the site but I am in a similar position to you. I’m 59, had my first baby at 19 and the 2nd at 21. I too am E+ and have been diagnosed with two breast lumps and have been taking HRT for almost ten years now. Like you I found the symptoms of the menopause intolerable and although I realised that there was a risk of b/c I just didn’t think it would happen to me. In the end I feel it’s a “throw of the dice”. Ironically I will have to have hormone treatment to stop my body from producing oestrogen and will therefore restart the memopause for the next 5 yrs! I am booked to have a mastectomy + clearance of the lymph nodes on the 23rd March. Still can’t quite believe it, I feel so well - I just want to get on with it now. I do understand where you’re coming from though and have thought myself that if the numbers of women being diagnosed with b/c is on the increase then maybe there should be more information out there about HRT so that women make a very informed decision before taking it.
Hi this is for mary grace. My bc is postive 8 for Prog, and 7 for estrog. I too had a mirena coil put it 2 years ago. My mammogram last March was clear, my lump appeared about 2 weeks after a nasty fall on the mountain which resulted in tearing my ribs from my sternum at the front. I switch from blaming the coil to the fall. I had my coil removed immediately and keep away from any food/milk containing progesterone. (and any mountain climbing)! I have just finished 4 sessions of FEC. Now I have 4 sessions of Docetaxel with Herceptin, then Herceptin on its own, every 3 weeks til Jan. I was wondering if you had similar treatment? and if so, what side effects did you get from the Docetaxel and Herceptin? My onc said I would not feel so sick but would have pains in my arms and legs!! My lump was 13mm, no lymph node involvement, clear margins. Stage 1, Grade 2. Hope you are doing OK. thanks for reading this!!
I dont know if this is the right place to post this so sorry if it is wrong.
When discussing whether I should continue taking letrozole my consultant said that my cancer was 7/8 for oestrogen. Does that mean it is more important that I get treated with the hormone pills I am on ( letrozole) or would I be OK without them?
