What is breast cancer survival % rate for follow-up drug(s) vs Arimidex vs no followup drugs?

I have just completed over a year's chemo,surgery,radiation,& chemo again with clean results for treatment for estrogen receptive breast cancer. No mascectomy,but removed 1/2 breast with lumpectomy, leaving a 7 in. scar across chest. I am 64 yrs old and never been sick or operated on before. I cannot find anywhere where it tells me what the % rate of survival is for Armidex for five years vs NO followup drugs survival rate for five years. Tests seemed to all have been done with comparisons of Arimidex and Tamoxifen, but what is the percentage of survival from using these drugs vs not using them. I do want my best survival rate, but am amazed that I can't get this question answered. My oncologist keeps changing the subject and then I forget and can't get a hold of her for another week or so (Kaiser). Thank you

One reason that your oncologist is dancing around this subject is because there is no study that directly compares patients who undergo aromatase inhibitor therapy (such as with Arimidex) to patients who get no therapy at all. This is because medical research has already shown Tamoxifen is better than no treatment at all, so to test whether Arimidex is useful, comparison needs to be made to the standard of care, which is Tamoxifen. It would be unethical to randomize patients to no treatment when we know Tamoxifen is clearly better.

So to answer your question, we will have to do it indirectly:

We know that patients who receive Tamoxifen therapy, when compared to those who receive no other treatment, have about a 10% improvement in overall survival (e.g. in early breast cancer, 68% vs 57%). When Arimidex is compared to Tamoxifen, the improvement is by another 3-5%. So overall, we can extrapolate that use of Arimidex vs no therapy, is probably by about 13-15%.

Keep in mind that the numbers can differ depending on the exact stage of cancer you have, and really, there is no hard data to directly answer what you are asking.

I don't know they answer but here is another question what was the cause of your cancer was it random chance, environmental or Genetic? If it was the first two then you chance of survival are pretty good from what I have read, but if it is genetic then your chances of developing cancer again (ovarian, second breast cancer) are increased. A genetic mutation of the BRCA1 or 2 gene can increase your chances of cancer by 98% by the age of 50. If you really want to know I would try to contact Huntsman caner institute in Utah they are one of the leading institutions doing research into all types of cancer. They may be able to answerer your questions more fully.

The American Cancer Society hotline might have answers for you or can point you in the right direction. Have you tried Googling the word Arimidex to see what's on the internet? Good Luck & I'm sorry for all you have gone through & are facing. Do you have family or friends assisting you that can go toDr.'s appt. with you to try & resolve this also?