What treatment
What treatment What treatment would you expect for a local recurrence first treatment lumpectoy followed by radiotherapthy.
The2nd lump is ER+. Would a mascetomy be the only option?
my treatment Hello Gypsy,
My understanding is that a mastectomy is the standard treatment for a local recurrence. I had a lumpectomy and rads in 1993 and a local recurrence diagnosed in Aug lst year. I had a mastectomy last Nov.
This may not be the practice in your hospital, and I’m sure your surgeon and breast care nurses will be able to give you all the information you need.
I hope this helps - please keep in touch and let us know how you’re getting on,
Love Flora xx
Same here I first had bc in 1985 and like yours my treatment was lumpectomy followed by radiotherapy.
I had my recurrence last November and had mastectomy with immediate reconstruction, its not possible to have rads again in the same area, am now taking Arimidex.
Best of luck.
Jan
Ditto My wife has just been diagnosed with a local recurrence and is waiting to see the plastic surgeon about her options with regard to breast reconstruction at the same time as mastectomy.
What we don’t yet know is what additional treatment is likely after the operation - that’s got to wait until the pathology of the tumour is more closely examined after the op.
Previously, she had a lumpectomy followed by radiotherapy in 2001 then 5 years of Tamoxifen.
She stopped taking Tamoxifen in January this year.
She’s been told that it’s unlikely she’ll be given Tamoxifen again (but not impossible) - also very unlikely to have further radiotherapy.
Any comments or thoughts would be appreciated.
What are side effects (if any) with Arimidex?
pm
my treatment So sorry to hear your news Gypsy. I had first CA in 1999, mastectomy followed by immediate reconstruction with an implant. I chose not to have rads at the time, as it would have meant that the reconstruction could have failed and my surgeon was in agreement with this. Went on Tamoxifen, but had very bad side effects (amongst others damaged eye sight) and was only on it for 2 years. Then dicovered lump in the scar in 2005 which turned out to be local recurrence. Only option was to have a total (radical) mastectomy and lose the implant. There was not enough skin/muscle left to have a further reconstruction, so have now resigned myself to the fact that I have to wear prothesis, which is not as bad as I first thought. Had to have AC chemo as all lymph nodes were affected and am now taking Armidex.
Sofar everything else is clear, so no secondaries - fingers crossed. Managing on Arimidex, although I am extremely tired all the time, as due to night sweats I don’t get much sleep and I have a lot of joint pains, but try and keep very active which does help. My bone density scan is ok at the moment, but I am insisting on having this repeated every 18 months, as there is a very high chances of osteoporosis on Arimidex treatment, and I want to be in a position to have choices.
Hope this helps at all Gypsy. I will be thinking of you and just remember that any decisions you make will be what is right for you, so do try and talk it through with all the health professionals to get a really good overview of all your options.
Birgit
Hi, just wanted to say that a mastectomy after a recurrence might not be a necessary step in all cases. I had a mastectomy with immediate reconstruction two years ago and in June discovered several new lumps in my reconstructed breast. Since then I have had four WLEs, a change of homrmonals (from tamoxifen to arimidex with Zoladex to bring on a chemically induced menopause), and am now facing six weeks of radiotherapy.
Friends do ask why I don’t just have the breast lopped off completely, but my surgeon is adamant that there is no significantly greater risk for me in having lumpectomies/WLEs instead of another mastectomy. And I really don’t want to lose this breast after all the investment in terms of my surgeon’s time and my pain in getting it!
Deirdre