% of return of breast cancer if I go off of arimidex and do not take tomoxifin

I am having alot of joint pain.  I had a lumpectomyin August of last year at the Clinic with Dr. Crow.  I take arimidex and actonel.  I want to know what the % of the cancer returning if I take nothing.

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear Gail Anne:  The risk of your cancer coming back depends on a number of factors including the size of the tumor, number of lymph nodes involved, histologic grade of the tumor and your age.  For postmenopausal women with hormone receptor positive invasive breast cancer, approximately 5 years of Arimidex prevents close to half or the recerrences that otherwise would have happened. The benefit of one year of therapy is unknown.  Perhaps a discussion with your oncologist would help to determine if there are different interventions to address your joint pain or whether a different hormone therapy may be a viable alternative.  Your oncologist may also be able to give you an estimate of your baseline risk of recurrence.