Radiotherapy alone or with Chemo?

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Hi

 

I am 35 and I was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal cancer and I had my surgery on the 25th of September.

 

I got my pathology results today and I am meeting the Oncologist next Thurs (17/10) to discuss the treatment options.

 

 The  tumour was 14mm, grade 2 ER+( 8/8 ) and PR+ (8/8) and Her2+.

 

My Breast Care Nurse said I will have Radiotherapy and hormonal therapy(tamoxifen) and I will discuss with the Oncologist if I should have Chemo and Herceptin.

 

I have read a lot of threads and I am not sure if I should go down the chemo route so I would like to hear from other ladies that were or are in a similar position.

 

I am a bit confused as I think I should probably do all I can to reduce the chances of a recurrence but I do not want to put myself through Chemo if it is unlikely to be of much benefit. I know there are no guarantees but I would appreciate any input from others in a similar position.

 

Thanks again to all the ladies who post stuff as I would not have been able to get through the past few weeks.

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H Teemaunga

 

It used to be that if you needed Herceptin, then you also had to have a taxane chemo. I understand that now, they are looking into giving HER2 positive patients herceptin by subcutaneous injection. Your oncologist will be able to explain whether having chemo too would be beneficial, and if so, how much. 

 

I notice that your tumour was grade 2, but you don’t mention if you have any affected nodes or not.  My personal feeling is, that because of your age chemo might be advisable. If you had nodes affected I would certainly consider chemo a good idea.  However, when you take into consideration the side effects you might get with chemo - it really has to be a personal choice. 

 

Here is the link to the online PREDICTION tool.

predict.nhs.uk/predict.shtml

It will give you an idea of the benefits of chemo to not having it. It’s quite simple to use as you  know all you need to  know to input into the form. After filling it in, click  ‘predict survival’ and a chart should appear with your percentage of benefits showing. On my details it said:

Five year survival
76 out of 100 women are alive at 5 years with no adjuvant therapy after surgery 
An extra 6 out of 100 women treated are alive because of hormone therapy 
An extra 11 out of 100 women treated are alive because of hormone therapy & chemotherapy

Ten year survival
48 out of 100 women are alive at 10 years with no adjuvant therapy after surgery 
An extra 11 out of 100 women treated are alive because of hormone therapy 
An extra 23 out of 100 women treated are alive because of hormone therapy & chemotherapy

 

Of course, yours would be different.

 

I had grade 3 ductal invasive with 1 out of 3 nodes affected. 100% ER positive, 70% PR positive, HER2 negative. I was offered chemo if I wanted it, I took it. I’m 62, and now taking Anastrazole for at least 5 years. 

 

Wishing you luck with your decision.

 

poemsgalore xx

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hi teemaunga. hope u are doing ok. i am in a similar situation as yourself. i was diagnosed in july i am also 35. mine was a small tumour 15mm grade 3. micro amount had gone into first lymph node so had remaining ones took out. when i saw my oncologist chemo was offered along with radio and hormone therapy. they said they wanted to offer me everything because of my age. i have just done my first chemo last wk and it did make me feel so so tired!! but i want to take all treatments offered to me so hopefully the bad lump will never return. just keep an open mind when u go and see what they offer. i know chemo will be tough but if all the other lovely ladies out there can do it…so can i!! keep in touch. its my first time on here and its good to have other people to chat to that are going through it too xxx

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Hi Dell and welcomes to the BCC forums
Along with the support here our helpliners are hand with practical and emotional support, lines are open 9-5 weekdays and 10-2 Saturdays on 0808 800 6000 so please feel free to call

You may also find the following link to the BCC 'Younger women ’ information and support helpful:

breastcancercare.org.uk/younger-women

Take are
Lucy BCC