Chemotherapy Benefit

I am 61-year old female, (hysterectomy at age 33).  Through routine mammography followed by an ultrasound and core-needle biopsy, a non-palpable 2.5 cm, Grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma was diagnosed in my left breast.  
The pathology report from a Lumpectomy performed four weeks later (6/1), indicates a Grade 3, size 3cm tumor, sentinel node positive (9 auxillary nodes removed and negative), Stage 2B, ER positive, PR negative HER2 +1 (negative),  
Initial Bone scan ok.  Blood test results pending.  Recommended course of treatment to begin 6/26 is 3 (21-day) series of FEC followed by 3 (21-day) series of  FEC + Taxotere, and then 5 yrs of Tamoxifen.  Six to seven weeks of breast radiation are to be given following chemotherapy.  
I

[Cleveland Clinic]

Dear vandi:  In general, the recommendation for a node positive breast cancer after lumpectomy in a healthy woman is chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy  and hormonal therapy if the tumor is hormone receptor positive .  This is based on clinical trials that show survival benefit for those who take chemotherapy compared to those who do not.  The amount of benefit (percentage wise) may vary according to a number of other factors including age, hormone status, HER 2 status, etc.  Your oncologist may be better able to give you approximate benefit estimations based specifically on your situation.   Once you have this information, you can decide if this is