50/50 on chemo - what to do

juliew

Hello
im new on here and would like to ask for your thoughts
i have grade 2 invasive ductal cancer progesterone and eostrogen positive breast cancer
lumpectomy and SNB completed 31/7
2 positive sentinel nodes detected
ALND completed 25/9 all nodes negative
oncologist says it’s very borderline for chemo it may or may not benefit me
i will have to have radiation and hormone treatment but it looks like it might be my decision
any thoughts/experience please

Joleystub

It's a decision that is a hard one but sounds like without it having been in your lymph nodes may be treated well with radiation and hormone therapy.  If you can get by without the chemo, my personal decision  would be do it but I would be asking more questions of the oncologist.  This is a great place for you to gain support ❤️ 

lorns

Arggh that's a tough one! 

I had similar outcomes from surgery (left-side mastectomy) - sentinel node was positive but ALND came back as all clear. I wanted to throw everything we could at it now while I'm relatively young (45) & healthy (besides the C) to reduce the chances of it coming back later. Add to that, my cancer was detected in the lympho-vascular system on the breast so I went ahead with chemo to make sure no little microscopic bits made an escape.

Did your oncologist go through the numbers with you - rates of survival based on the specific findings in your pathology and the different combination of treatments? That can help (if your a stats/numbers kind of a person) to make that decision. It sucks as you just want someone to give you the one true answer

Hugs to you!

juliew

Talking to oncologist again next week to get more info. I am thinking about paying for the oncotype dx test going to cost me $5000 but it will tell me if chemo will or will not be of benefit .
oncologist was talking about stats of 5% benefit for chemo - that doesn’t seem worth it to me compared to the damage chemo does to your body.
i might add that I’m 74 and in good health apart from cancer and a bit of osteoarthritis .

Afraser

The problem with stats is that you may have no way of knowing which side of the ledger you are on. Fine if you are in the 95% or so, not so fine if you are in the 5%. Chemo can have lasting effects but so can hormonal therapy. The main thing is that you feel happy with your final decision - no regrets later. So it’s worth doing whatever gets you to that stage. Best wishes whatever you decide.

veenaga

In my opinion and my choice, I'd rather throw everything at my cancer than not. I trust the doctors advice 100% as they are the experts not me. Also, I have gone through the public system for everything and have had private doctors, hospital and treatment centres involved in my care. No complaints. No delays, no added financial stress on medical treatment.  

Also, docs keep telling me I am too young (52) which I find amusing but when you sit in a waiting room full of over 70 yos that makes so sense.

Diagnosis 7 Dec 23 - stage 2 dcis er/pr + HER- mastectomy & aux 27/2/24. 17/6 nodes removed. And idc cells as well. Done chemo and rads (finished 4/10/24). I was fortunate to have very minimal side effects from all treatment so far. Just hair loss, nausea and fatigue. (Chemo AC mostly). Don't let the thought of chemo scare you if it does. It's better to be cautious than not. Idc can spread quickly. 

cactusk

Hi @juliew
your story sound very similar to mine - WLE with 2 nodes positive (Stage 2B, Grade 2)
I thought very seriously about which way to go, and in the end decided to do the Oncotype test.
Luckily for me this came back as showing chemo would not significantly aid my treatment.
I then did 15 fractions of radio, and am currently dealing with a damaged liver from one of my meds (Ribociclib) and learning to live with the other side effects from Letrozole, Zoladex and Zometa.
It is hard, but i'm sure you'll decide what is right by you. I talked at length to all my team - the oncologists, BC nurses and read a lot on here too.
Absolute best wishes to you,
Kelly