hormone therapy

Greetings

I had a lumpectomy on April 2, 2009.  Since then I have been anxiously awaiting my follow-up appt. with my surgeon.  as it turns out my appt. was a great disappointment b/c I found out that it was just so she could see how my incision was healing and not to find out about subsequent therapies.  That appt. was then set up for May 27.  I was asked to be part of a clinical study (which I have decided not to do) then I saw my radiation oncologist who determined that I would need 3 wks of radiation with 1 "booster" week.  I have been told from the start that with a lumpectomy I would need radiation.  I found out later about the hormone therapy.  I want to know if this is standard of care for my situation.  I had a 1cm lump including DCIS and ILC.  My margins were 6mm, 1cm, 5cm, 6cm.  The ILC was in a linear pattern and low nuclear grade. 4 of 4 nodes were negative for cancer.  I am ER+ 100% and PR+ 90%.  I am HER2 negative.  I was told my cancer was caught very early and I should be OK.  My question is that I have talked to people who have had mastectomies and no hormone therapy.  First I want to know if HT is standard care in my case and seocnd I want to know if HT is standard with mastectomies for my type of cancer. While I understand that you cannot anser this for me, I want to know if in some medical circles HT is omitted for my situation.  I am asking becasue I want to know if it is worth it for me to seek a second opinioin. Thanks JDM

[zouzi]

Hi,there, I remember you quite well..We had almost the same situation and I think that the last note I sent you was to ask you if your tumor was ER &PR positive,but at that time you were still waiting for the results.Once a tumor is positive for ER &PR then the hormone therapy is needed to prevent a recurrence.If you are post menopausal you will need to take Arimidex,if not then Tamoxifen will be the one to take.Many women dislike taking those anti estrogen medication..(including me) but this is required to give us a better chance not to restart new cancerous tumors that grow because of the estrogen that our body produces.Of course nobody can force you to take this medication,but if I were you I wouldn't take this risk.I don't think that a second opinion will contradict your surgeon.This is the norm for all tumors that are ER/PR positive. I hope I've helped you a bit.Take care and best wishes

[50GC]

thanks zouzi