My mom has been in remission from Breast Cancer for 8 years but recently found a few cancer cells in pleura?

Question

doctor is VERY hopeful and says femara should clear the cancer cells up and put her into remission. does anyne know about Femara? should i be very concerned with her condition or just take the doctors words and trust that she will make it through this?the cancer is NOT agressive the doctor also said that it was not in any organs or anything, just a few spots in the pleura. this should be easy to take care of right?

Answer 1

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but the fact that it has come back after 8 years of remission is not good news. It is a sign that the disease is still lurking in her body and can flare up at any time. Hopefully Femara will be able to treat the metastases and any microscopic disease that's still lingering. I do not know much about this drug though.

Your mom beat the disease once; hopefully she can do it again.
Good Luck!

Answer 2

While surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are meant to remove cancer cells from the body, there is always the chance that some breast cancer cells may still remain. Therefore, the risk of recurrence is ongoing1. One-third of all women with estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer experience a recurrence. The highest risk of recurrence occurs within 2 years after surgery2. For this reason, oncologists may recommend FEMARA, the treatment that is now giving postmenopausal women an effective option to help reduce the risk of recurrence after initial treatment.

A large, international clinical trial involving over 8,000 women shows that FEMARA is more effective than tamoxifen—the "gold standard" for more than 30 years. Results from the study show that compared to tamoxifen, FEMARA reduced the risk of cancer coming back by an additional 21%, based on 24 months of treatment. 296 out of 4,003 patients taking FEMARA experienced a recurrence vs. 369 out of 4,007 patients taking tamoxifen. The study is ongoing to determine the long-term benefits and safety of Femara. FEMARA also reduces the risk of breast cancer returning to another part of the body3. Individual results may vary. Because FEMARA does not eliminate the chance of recurrence, you should monitor your results with your doctor.

To find out more about the results from this important clinical trial and the benefits of FEMARA for adjuvant therapy, click here.

Extended Adjuvant Therapy
The risk of recurrence is ongoing, even after treatment with tamoxifen. One-third of all women with estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer experience a recurrence. More than half of those occur five years after initial treatment. For this reason, oncologists may recommend treatment with FEMARA. FEMARA is the first and only approved treatment for postmenopausal women who've completed 5 years of tamoxifen for early stage breast cancer3. A landmark international study involving over 5,000 postmenopausal women with early stage breast cancer showed that FEMARA significantly reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence, based on 24 months of data. FEMARA also lowers the risk of breast cancer returning to another part of the body3. Individual results may vary. Because FEMARA does not eliminate the chance of recurrence, you should monitor your results with your doctor.
breast cancers contain protein molecules called estrogen receptors. When no estrogen is present, the estrogen receptors remain inactive. When the estrogen receptors are exposed to estrogen, however, they trigger a chain of events that may result in tumor cell growth and multiplication, as illustrated here.
Tumors that contain these estrogen receptors are known as estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) tumors. Doctors perform a test to determine whether breast cancer is estrogen receptor-negative (ER-) or ER+. A tumor must have been diagnosed as estrogen receptor positive or estrogen receptor unknown for FEMARA to be prescribed.
FEMARA is an aromatase inhibitor. Aromatase is the enzyme that produces estrogen in postmenopausal women. By interfering with the production of estrogen triggered by aromatase, FEMARA actually reduces the total amount of estrogen in the body. As a result, less estrogen can reach breast cancer cells. So, in essence, FEMARA helps to starve breast cancer cells by depriving them of estrogen.

Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy all strive to remove breast cancer cells from the body. However, even if a woman has undergone one or all three forms of treatment, a small number of breast cancer cells may remain.The next illustration shows the effect FEMARA has on the multiplication of those breast cancer cells.
Androgen (a hormone found in both men and women) is produced by fat, muscle, and adrenal glands. Aromatase enzyme is needed to convert androgen into estrogen, which results in tumor growth.
FEMARA binds to the aromatase enzyme and blocks it from converting androgen to estrogen, thereby reducing growth of the tumor.

FEMARA® (letrozole tablets) is approved for the adjuvant (following surgery) treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor positive early breast cancer. The benefits of FEMARA in clinical trials are based on 24 months of treatment. Further follow-up will be needed to determine long-term results, safety and effectiveness.

FEMARA is also approved for the extended adjuvant treatment of early stage breast cancer in postmenopausal women who are within three months of completion of five years of tamoxifen therapy. The benefits of FEMARA in the extended adjuvant setting are based on 24 months of treatment. Further follow-up will need to determine long-term results, including side effects.
Talk to your doctor if you're allergic to FEMARA or any of its ingredients. You should not take FEMARA if you are pregnant as it may cause fetal harm. You must be postmenopausal to take FEMARA. Some women reported fatigue and dizziness with FEMARA. Until you know how if affects you, use caution before driving or operating machinery. Some patients taking FEMARA had an increase in cholesterol. Additional follow-up is needed to determine the risk of bone fracture associated with long-term use of FEMARA. The percentage of women on FEMARA reporting bone fracture was 5.6% versus 4% for women on tamoxifen. The percentage of women reporting osteoporosis was 2% for FEMARA versus 1.1% for tamoxifen.

In the adjuvant setting, commonly reported side effects are generally mild to moderate. Side effects that are comparable between FEMARA and tamoxifen include night sweats (14.1% vs 16.4%), weight gain (10.7% vs 12.9%), nausea (9.5% vs 10.4%), and tiredness (8.4% vs 8.7%). Side effects seen more often with tamoxifen versus Femara were hot flashes (38% vs 33.7%) and vaginal bleeding (10.3% vs 4.5%). Joint pain was experienced more often with FEMARA versus tamoxifen (21.1% vs 13.4%). The incidence of stroke was 1.1% for women on FEMARA and 1.0% for women on tamoxifen, and the incidence of other cardiovascular events was 6.6% for FEMARA versus 6.2% for tamoxifen.

In the extended adjuvant setting, commonly reported side effects are generally mild to moderate. Those seen more often with FEMARA versus placebo were hot flashes (50% vs 43%), joint pain (22% vs 18%) and muscle pain (7% vs 5%). Other side effects, which were comparable to placebo, include fatigue (34% vs 32%), swelling due to fluid retention (18% vs 16%), headache (20% vs 20%), increase in sweating (24% vs 22%) and increase in cholesterol (16% vs 16%). The percentage of patients on FEMARA versus placebo reporting a fracture was 5.9% vs 5.5%. The percentage of patients reporting osteoporosis was 6.9% vs 5.5%. Bisphosphonates, drugs to increase bone strength, were given to 21.1% of FEMARA patients and 18.7% of placebo patients.