arimidex vs chemotherapy

[cautiousdaughter]

My Mother has metastatic breast cancer. Her recurrence was found 11 years after her lumpectomy. She has been on one type of chemo or another for the past 2 years. Even though her pathology showed a negative hormone receptor her oncologist is saying that they are now finding arimidex to slow the growth of tumors in some patients that had a long time from initial breast cancer treatment to a recurrence. Has anyone else heard of this? I'm wondering if the HMO is trying to lower their cost of her care using this instead of the Chemotherapy Adriamyacin. It would, however, be a great thing if it actually works.

Thanks for any advice!

[shielah]

Hello,
I read of your concern regarding the prescribing of Arimidex for your mothers metastatic breast cancer. I can tell you that the test results were so good for Arimidex that they stopped the tests early and started prescribing it. I was prescribed it for breast cancer that had spread by following the aorta to my stomache and intestines etc. The important thing is that I survived for over 7 years on Arimidex with very little side effects.
In fact it was so good that when a small tumour was found by a CT scan on  my aorta in a place that couldn't be reached even for a biopsy to be taken the Arimidex cleared it by the next scan (6 months). I should point out that Arimidex was the only medication I was taking, no other treatment.
The only reason my cancer has now  returned is because a relief GP gave me the results of a bone scan and found that I had osteoporosis so she took me off it and by the time I saw my oncologist (another 6 months) the cancer had returned and metasized in my intestines and spine and ribs. Great fun!
The talk is that they are considering testing Arimidex as a preventative treatment for people who have a family history of breast cancer. I hope this helps and I wish you both better health for the future.  

[Cleveland Clinic]

Dear cautiousdaughter:  In general, it is individuals who have cancers that are estrogen and/or progesterone receptor positive that benefit from endocrine treatments such as Arimidex. It is possible for a recurrence to differ from the original cancer in terms of hormone receptor status. It is also possible to have false negatives when testing. For these reasons, there may be times when endocrine treatments can be tried for recurrent disease, even if the original cancer was hormone receptor negative. This is particularly true in a situation where the cancer is “behaving” more like a hormone sensitive tumor, such as a long interval prior to recurrence.

[hala44]

I just had a breast biobsy, and the result was fibroadenoma.
the doctor didn't tell me any thing and just gave me a copy of the result. i don't know what is fibroadenoma. and what should i do. please let me know