femara and breast cancer

I had a double masectomy 1-1/2 years ago and have finished chemo treatments in April of 08 and now I am on Femara for about a year. My question is can I get a recurrence of cancer of some sort (i know it won't be breast) while I'm actually still using Femara?

m=2 Additional side effects for both Femara and tamoxifen are heart attack, thromboembolic events, endometrial cancer and second malignancies. bOTH THE DRUGS CAN CAUSE GAIN IN WEIGHT.

Those are drugs that were primarily given to post chemo breast cancer patients since breast cancer is usually estrogen related. The correlation between breast cancer and estrogen related ovarian cancer is being studied, and the theory is if they work for breast cancer patients, they may work for estrogen related ovarian cancer, as well. For me, Aromasin has kept my cancer stable for the last 9 months.

Cancer was found in my left breast now, so I had a bilateral mastectomy and no cancer cells were found other than in the new cancer site when pathology was done on the removed tissue and nodes. this cancer had positive estrogen receptors. The diagnosis is good and was rated as a "0". I am now taking Femara, but am hesitant due to the 1st cancer 7 yrs. ago. I am nervous about taking any estrogen therapy. What is your opinion?

I participated in the Tamoxifen and Raloxophene five-year breast cancer study (2000 - 2005). This required completing questionnaires about possible side-effects experienced, and one of the questions was "do you have dry mouth." First time I'd ever heard of it, but yes, since I was on the study I had dry mouth. I've been off the study now three years and continue to have dry mouth, sometimes worse than previously.

I would like to know how much alcohol (wine in particular) will raise my breast cancer risk . I am a breast cancer survivor on Femara and on weekends I have a couple of drinks while out to dinner or at a party. I an forever feeling "guilty". As it is summer there just seems to be more parties and social events.

They have given mum a hormone tablet called femara to take for the rest of her life which they have said is an anti cancer drug and will kill any cancer cells. Has anyone had this? I am pleased that the chemo has worked.

I am on femara 5 days a month, but been warned that since it actually made for breast cancer patiences one should never take them unwatched. My sister has breast cancer and it stems from hormons. Don't risk it been my suggestion but you must decided. Its just not something worth messing around to possibly mess your whole system over. Rather go and see a gyni and save yourself from complications.

t want to take fossamax or any more drugs than necessary, but also do not want a recurrence of breast cancer. Is there a clinical study and shows femara vs placebo rather than femara vs tamoifen (novartis trial)? What is the general recommendation? Can you stop femara if side effects become a quality of life issue? Thank you.

I am taking femara after surgery for early breast cancer. I am supposed to take calcium supplements but dont like them and now there is a suggestion of increased risk of heart attack. I have a good diet, take exercise and my bone density is normal. I am 74.

I am approaching 5 years clear of Breast cancer. I was diagnosed with Stage 1, Grade 1 ER+ right breast cancer in 2004. No node involvement at all. However it was also Her2neu positive. I had a trt mastectomy w/ 16 lymph nodes excised, all negative. I then had 4 cycles of Adriamycin and Cytoxin.

Hi there ... I remember you and glad to hear that you are evidently doing well. The yearly pelvic US is a good idea; one of the side effects of both Tamoxifen and Femara is Endometrial Cancer. It would be more routine because of the drugs than because of the BC alone. Regards ...

HER2-positive breast cancer is a distinct form of breast cancer that demands attention because HER2-positive tumors are fast growing.The combination of trastuzumab (Trade name Herceptin)with chemotherapy is now standard for the first-line treatment of women with HER-2-positive.

Hi Sue, I see your case is much more severe than mine. And another that had serious problems from taking tamoxifen and AI aromasin. My oncologist wanted me to take tamoxifen but with my history of blood clots he suggested Femara. ( it still has blood clot risk, Tam 2.8%, Fema 1.2% ) He also requested the oncotype DX test and my number came back a 11 which is low. I read in the oncotype DX information booklet that test is only done on invasive tumors?

I don't know about Femara but I have gained weight on Tamoxifen. I get to stop taking it next month and I can't wait to see if I lose some of this weight.

Hello, Letrozole i s used to treat certain types of breast cancer (such as hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer) in women after menopause. Letrozole is also used to help prevent the cancer from returning. It is not used for fertility treatment rountinely. Consult a gynecologist to discuss about the treatment options. It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided.

Hi, Studies with femara have shown that it causes about 27% reduction in risk of recurring breast cancer. Other studies have shown that the yearly risk of recurrent breast cancer is reduced by half with femara. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00E6DE143FF933A25753C1A9659C8B63 I suggest you to please follow the advise of your treating doctor.

I am a survivor of 10 years and I am finished with Tamoxifen and have till October when I will be finished with Femara. My urologist wants me to begin taking Vitamin C and Acidophalos?? I wasalways told that one shoud not take vitamins, having had cancer. I am allowed to take Evening Primrose Oil 1500 one a day to prevent breast cysts. I am most concerned about starting Vitamin C.

I was wondering if any of you ladies had taken femara and if it shortened or lengthened your cycles?

Femara is a prescription medication that is originally used in women with breast cancer, but helps women ovulate if they don't on their own.

December 14, 2009 (San Antonio, Texas) — New results coming from 2 mature trials with exemestane (Aromasin, Pfizer) suggest that this aromatase inhibitor differs slightly from the other 2 available products, letrozole (Femara, Novartis) and anastrozole (Arimidex, AstraZeneca). Although all 3 are aromatase inhibitors, exemestane is a steroidal product that binds irreversibly to the estrogen receptor; the other 2 products are both nonsteroidal and are reversible inhibitors.

At the present though, two drugs already target the overexpressed protein. These drugs are Herceptin and Lapatinib and has been shown to improve outcomes in breast cancer patients. The benefit of hormonal treatment beyond 5 years is only demonstrated with the drug Femara (MA17 study) and I'm not aware of similar trials involving Novladex. Regards and God bless.

I had stage 3+ breast cancer 6 years ago and had a lumpectomy (twice) and after chemo and radiation was put on Femara since my cancer was hormone sensitive. I've been on it the required 5 years and now the pharmaceutical company says another 5 years. My insurance won't pay for it after January, so does anyone have any ideas or experienced something similar? Femara is many hundreds of $ a month, so paying for it without help is not an option. Anyone had a similar experience?

Just to follow up with what everyone else is saying, Femara (Letrozole) seems to be the next thing to try if you don't respond well to Clomid. I was on Clomid for 4 cycles and am now on my 2nd with Femara. I've felt a lot better on the Femara and gotten strong positive OPK's, so it seems to be working well. Everyone responds to meds differently, but this might be worth a try next time. Here's a link to a really good article I found online about it.

Femara and breast cancer

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