Breast Cancer Survival Rate

My friend has breast cancer ER negative and it is spread to the lymph nodes. Size of the tumor was 2-3 cm and lumpectomy was allready done. Wright now she is going through chemotherapy and after that comes radiation. My question is should she take tamoxifen after everything and what is survival rate for that stage of the breast cancer? Thank You!

[CCF-RN,MSN-JS]

Dear Mina5, Using the information given above your friend's cancer would be staged at 2b.  Five-year survival rates quoted for this stage of cancer are approximately 66%.  This is just a number, and much depends on how the individual responds to the treatment - the local tumor is treated and any possible spread of the cancer beyond the breast has been controlled with the chemotherapy.  Hormone therapy (tamoxifen) is usually not used in situations where the tumor is not responsive to estrogen (ER negative).