Forum Discussion

Olivegreen's avatar
Olivegreen
Member
2 years ago

ER -ve DCIS have had Tamoxifen offered

Hi brains trust. I have just had single mastectomy due to high grade and large DCIS. The results from pathology show that the DCIS was ER/PR-ve and HER2 +ve. 
I’ve been offered Tamoxifen as an option to reduce risk on other side. 
Am I right in thinking this would not help if I get the same kind of DCIS or cancer in the other side? I’m not sure how keen I am to take hormone blockers as my understanding is that I now have same risk as the rest of the population. Anybody else been in this situation? Any suggestions on where to research?
dcis
tamoxifen
  • Olivegreen's avatar
    Olivegreen
    Member
    2 years ago
    That’s what I thought too@Blossom1961 but then I didn’t want to seem ungrateful to be offered a preventative measure that others perhaps wish they had been given. I’ll be asking more questions at next appointment. 
  • June1952's avatar
    June1952
    Member
    2 years ago
    @Olivegreen - I have sent you a private message - look at the top right of your screen where you normally log off.  The message envelope is to the left of your icon.
  • Blossom1961's avatar
    Blossom1961
    Member
    2 years ago
    @Olivegreen I am also Her2+ and PR/ER-. I have never been told to have tamoxifen just in case for the other side. Sounds strange. I think I would be asking for better clarification. Who wants to risk side effects you don't need?! Weird
  • Afraser's avatar
    Afraser
    Member
    2 years ago
    Many think it’s unlucky to have cancer - in spite of the stats. Many think it’s lucky to have it caught earlier rather than later and to have the excellent medical facilities and practitioners we have in Australia. Eleven years on, I know what ‘luck’ helped me. Keep
    your spirits up, this is winnable! 
  • Olivegreen's avatar
    Olivegreen
    Member
    2 years ago
    Thanks @Afraser as I’m learning more I realise this would be something I should consider myself lucky to have as an option available to me. 
  • Afraser's avatar
    Afraser
    Member
    2 years ago
    I had a single mastectomy, established tumour, one malignant lymph node,  HER2 positive, and took Letrozole (way past menopause) for ten years. So far (eleven years) so good! I don’t know of anything that will categorically protect you from a recurrence or another unrelated cancer. But I felt like I wanted to do whatever was recommended (five years initially, ten years following research of effectiveness) to avoid going through BC again. For the record, while I had some side effects (one was possibly age related), I had none of the common ones - no joint pain, aches, menopausal symptoms, etc. Remember you can always stop a treatment if the side effects are too difficult. Best wishes whatever you choose.