ER Negative
I finish my radiation therapy soon. Oncologist tells me all is going well,had dcis, good margins, lymph nodes clear, ER neg. should i be worried that i have not been prescribed medication? Anyone else in the same boat?
Comments
Hi Encee,
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. You have put my mind at rest and of course i will speak to the nurse regarding my concerns. Thank you again for your detailed and simply put response. x 
Dear April,
You can be reassured that it is the person with DCIS which is oestrogen posititve who may be offered hormone therapy. You may find our Factsheet on DCIS helpful (the link is below).
If you would like to speak to a nurse or a volunteer with DCIS,from our peer to peer support group you could do so by contacting a nurse on our National Cancer Helpline on 1800 200 700.
Kind regards,
Cancer Information Services Nurse
[url=https://www.cancer.ie/sites/default/files/content-attachments/ductal_ca… Carcinoma in Situ Factsheet (PDF)[/url:15q551ov]
Hi April, I'm sure you must be happy to be at the end leg of your experience and wishing you continued good health.
DCIS is a non-invasive breast cancer, and refers to the fact that the cancer remained in the duct and didn't spread to breast tissue or anywhere else. As you mentioned, the margins were clear and there was no lymph node involvement, so all these factors, in addition to you getting radiotherapy means you have a great prognosis.
Further treatment usually only applies when your cancer presents as Estrogen positive, which means the hormones "drives" the cancer, and you would be on Tamoxifen to deal with that, for example; or if there is higher levels of a protein called Her2 present, when you would be treated with Herceptin, for example.
DCIS usually presents with the lowest percentage of recurrence risk, which is great, and you probably have been advised to keep self-examining your breasts for changes & keep your annual check-up and mammogram.
I'm sure you might feel slightly off keel in your concern about not being on further treatment, when you hear so much from people you meet and from this forum, about all the different routes of treatment other breast cancer patients are on. I have do doubt that your oncologist is no longer concerned with the risk of recurrence and hence you haven't been offered any further treatment, but I would recommend you contact your Breast Cancer Nurse for reassurance, and maybe put your query that you posted here, to them for a clear explanation.
I hope I haven't over-complicated the reply, don't hesitate to ask if you have any other queries