While a recurrance is not the norm with hormone treatment it depends on alot of other factors too like stage of cancer and size too. I was stage 2 but my tumour was 58mm which is quite large. I am on Tamoxifen and Zoladex for next 10 years. Its the tamox though that really helps my odds of a recurrance down to 10% over the next 10 years. Zoladex only adds a few percent if that but everyone is different. If you are under 35 an AI and Zoladex really knock down your odds of a recurrance. The best thing to do is to chat to your oncs to see how it benefits you.
i had local recurrence last year after 4 years. I was on Arimidex. Had it removed and rads. But I didn't get radiotherapy after first mascectomy and they think that why it returned had been a cell left. I had my treatment in Thialand and only had Chemo no rads.
There is some ongoing research about who hormone therapy helps and who it doesn't ,think they have identified a generic factor ,hopefully more research will identify who these drugs help and who they don't so we are no putting up with side effects for no gain.
At my second annual check up I asked the doctor if use of hormone treatments had altered the peak at which re occurence happens (i.e did it still peak in the first two or three years). The reply was that the peak had not altered.
I have moved your post to the Hormone Therapy board to give users more of a chance to respond and I am sure they will be along soon to share their experiences and offer a friendly ear.
In the meantime you may want to call our support line at 0808 800 6000 who will be able to talk to you about hormone therapy and offer some support.
