Letrozole and Exemestane did t work what’s next

Morning Crawford

Sorry to read you have now been told about a couple of nodes being affected, especially after hormone treatment, surgery and 4 x chemo :-/

I'm assuming you also had radiotherapy ? If not they may suggest surgery to remove these nodes followed by rads. However if you were given radiotherapy you may well have had the 'lifetime' dose to that area so can't have any more. Chances are in that instance they would offer surgery to remove the affected nodes possibly followed by another couple of chemo sessions as most have 6 chemo sessions.

Have they mentioned any options, or are they discussing what course of action to take and seeing you to chat about it afterwards ?

This could be recurrence rather than secondaries, this is something you need to ask about to get a clearer picture of your diagnosis; perhaps the lung blood clots were not cancer related.

I'm not medically trained and am only going by what has been posted here in the past - hopefully someone with more experience of this scenario could reply.

Take care, G n' J

Thanks for reply, yes the blood clots maybe related to knee replacement surgeries I had last year the Dr has asked for a full CT Scan to see if cancer  has spread to other parts of the body so awaiting this which could take up to 2 weeks.  I did not have radiotherapy last time and am seeing Oncology this coming week for annual oncology appointment. I just wondered what other hormone tablets were available as did not have much trust in last time spoke with oncologist. So wanted to research what was available as last time I seemed to know more than her, for instance oncotype test total suggested Chemo due to high instance of reoccurrence she said wouldn’t need I explained total and asked her to clarify spoke with other oncologist and then said yes I would need Chemo!

Hi Crawford

Having hormone tablets to reduce a tumour prior to surgery can be a very slow process and are more commonly given post surgery. J was on Lerrozole for 5 years and is still classed as cancer free from 2012 so they do work as a back-up treatment.

There are 3 types Exemestane, Letrozole and Anastrozole (or Tamoxifen for those pre-meno)

You can look up Anastrozole (and the other 2) by using the Information & Support tab at the top if the page.

Must admit that first comment about having a highish Oncotype figure and her stating chemo not needed until she checked it out doesn't install a good confidence factor :-/

May be offered node surgery then rads then ?

Hugs, G n' J

Thanks dreamthief, I have great confidence in my Breast Clinic Dr she was talking about surgery to remove the nodes affected with cancer however wants to do a Full Body CT Scan to see if has spread elsewear first.  She also has concerns about surgery with blood clots in my lungs so will speak with an anaesthetist about this issue.  She was wanting me to change to Letrozole but as I said to did not work previously so wanted to see what other hormone tablets were available.  I will look at Anastrozole before I speak with the oncologist and hopefully don’t get the one I had little confidence in last time.

I do appreciate you taking time to reply to my post.  Just awaiting the CT scan and as you know it’s the waiting that’s sometimes the hardest.

take care

Mariex

Hi Marie  / Crawford

I wouldn't have confidence in any of the oestrogen busting tablets shrinking a tumour down unless you want to wait 12-18 months for any significant shrinkage impact as it can take that long - so I'm not surprised you feel it didn't work. All they do is slowly cut off the oestrogen supply to help starve the cancer cells helping it stop growing further, unfortunately not all tumours are highly oestrogen receptive and can still grow.

However Letrozole/Anastrozole and Exemestane are very good at lowering oestrogen levels post treatment (surgery/rads/chemo etc) do have confidence in these vastly lowering your risk of recurrence in the future.

Take care, G n' J

Hi G n J

I have been on Exemestane for 2 years and the cancer same strain as before ER Breast Cancer has returned because of this I assume Exemestane is not working.  I had few issues with it pretty fatigued but not as bad as some people with joint issues etc.  Looking at side effects on Anastrozole Cholesterol is an issue and I already have high Cholesterol so that is a concern.

I am seeing Oncologist this week so obviously a lot to discuss.

thanks again for your help.

Marie