Forum Discussion
berry
7 years agoMember
Invasive Lobular Cancer (ILC)
Hi all, I have just discovered that ILC is lumped into general ductal breast cancer. America research have started to recognise there are huge differences. Treatment in Australia is the same as ductal cancer and even the metastasized areas are generally different to ductal cancers.. Australian research and recognition is way off. Does anyone else who has/had ILC been misinformed? kindly Berry
89 Replies
- Patti_JMemberWhat can I say? 15 years after being diagnosed with infiltrating ductal carcinoma, I was diagnosed with invasive pleomorphic lobular carcinoma. I still have severe and generalised bony metastatic disease as well as some liver secondaries. I am living my life to the best of my ability. I have just been on a long overseas trip. Hope to be around to see any grandchildren that come along.
No use complaining about anything. Who is going to listen? - berryMemberletrozole is an anti-estrogen
- SisterMemberThere was something in that ILC webinar about Letrozole but don't have time atm to look for it
- RomlaMemberI think @Brenda5 the stats for the aromatise inhibitor Letrozole in combination with Prolia are better - will find supporting evidence and post.
- berryMemberforgive me EAA but I will postpone immediate celebrations.
- EAAMember@Berry Great News.. Joy to our world! A day to celebrate.
- EAAMemberThanks Brenda.. helpful stats. My first ductal Er+ HR-ve , I had chemo, then Arimidex for 2 years ..developed osteopenia , put on Tamoxifen for next three years. Two and a half years Off hormone therapy self discovered Grade 2 Invasive Lobular tumour. This, I think could have been developing through its cell divisions while I was on Tamoxifen! This pathology was not considered by the
practitioners who recommenced me on Tamoxifen. After three
years, fatigue was extreme I asked to go back into Arimidex.
Sc Prolia has been added for the bone loss. I cope well with
Arimidex.. I don’t seem to fit the stats! Especially the ongoing
cover when you’re off it. .... don’t ask me to ask the Onc, they
haven’t an answer.. too busy following basic recipes for intervention. - berryMemberI assume that those stats include metastasized breast cancer as well.
- Brenda5MemberHere are some more divisive stats.
According to the American Cancer Society, 5-year survival rates are:
- stage 0 — 100 percent
- stage 1 — 100 percent
- stage 2 — 93 percent
- stage 3 — 72 percent
- stage 4 (the metastatic stage) — 22 percent
- In terms of ILC types survival rates for cancer are typically calculated in terms of how many people live at least five years after their diagnosis. The average five-year survival rate for breast cancer is 90 percent and the 10 year survival rate is 83 percent.
The stage of the cancer is important when considering survival rates. For instance, if the cancer is only in the breast, the five-year rate of survival is 99 percent. If it has spread to the lymph nodes, the rate decreases to 85 percent.
For hormone positive cancers these are hormone therapy stats - Can hormone therapy be used to prevent breast cancer?
Yes. Most breast cancers are ER positive, and clinical trials have tested whether hormone therapy can be used to prevent breast cancer in women who are at increased risk of developing the disease.
A large NCI-sponsored randomized clinical trial called the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial found that tamoxifen, taken for 5 years, reduced the risk of developing invasive breast cancer by about 50% in postmenopausal women who were at increased risk (12). Long-term follow-up of another randomized trial, the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study I, found that 5 years of tamoxifen treatment reduces the incidence of breast cancer for at least 20 years (13). A subsequent large randomized trial, the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene, which was also sponsored by NCI, found that 5 years of raloxifene (a SERM) reduces breast cancer risk in such women by about 38% (14).
As a result of these trials, both tamoxifen and raloxifene have been approved by the FDA to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer in women at high risk of the disease. Tamoxifen is approved for this use regardless of menopausal status. Raloxifene is approved for use only in postmenopausal women.
Two aromatase inhibitors—exemestane and anastrazole—have also been found to reduce the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women at increased risk of the disease. After 3 years of follow-up in a randomized trial, women who took exemestane were 65% less likely than those who took a placebo to develop breast cancer (15). After 7 years of follow-up in another randomized trial, women who took anastrozole were 50% less likely than those who took placebo to develop breast cancer (16). Both exemestane and anastrozole are approved by the FDA for treatment of women with ER-positive breast cancer. Although both are also used for breast cancer prevention, neither is approved for that indication specifically.
- kmakmMember@berry I struggle with the five year stat. It's quoted all the time but it's a bit of a furphy. There's no tracking of death from breast cancer after that as far as I can tell. The ten year stats are 'all causes'. The five year 91% stat contributes to people thinking BC is basically cured. I have told some very surprised people about the realities. Especially people who tell me BC research gets too much money. Despite the stat that 1 in 7 of us will get BC, there is definitely a lack of knowledge about it out there in wider society.