atypical ductal hyperplasia

Hope I posted in the right place. I haven't been to this site in a long time and things sure have changed. Since my mammogram and ultra sound came back suspicious, I had a core biopsy in each breast. 15 tissue samples were taken from each breast. I was diagnosed with Atypical Ductal Hyperplasia. To be safe, the breast doctor wants me to have a more detailed biopsy where they remove larger tissue samples. Also, my regular doctor (not the breast specialist) says I can't ever go back on hrt again. She was the one giving it to me over the years. I had my hysterectomy in 2000. Does anyone here have this and what were you told? I wasn't given many details. I got most of my information from articles I looked up on the Internet. You can email also at <admin note: email address removed>Thanks a head of time for any help on this subject.

Don't know much. Five plus years ago I was diagnosed with DCIS. Lumpectomy, radiation, five years of Tamoxifen (finished that this past January). ADH was in my path report. Just yesterday, I specifically asked a nurse from the American Cancer Society if radiation also kills ADH. She said "sometimes" . . . depends on the stage of their development.

ADH is not cancer yet, but they are abnormal cells which may or may not become malignant.

I don't know anything more than that. For myself, I'm not particularly worried. I get checked out every October. Since diagnosis -- so far, so good.

Mary D.

Hi Sue-I read your post and thought I would try to give you some insight about your diagnosis. I am an xray tech and do breast biopsies. Atypical ductal hyperplasia is what we call a grey area. The cells they found are not cancer but they are not normal. The reason they like to do an excisional biopsy is to get a definitive diagnosis. They will take the entire area of concern out and send it to the lab. As we tell our patients, the statistics are on your side-85% of the breast biopsies performed are benign. But you can't be sure until they look at it under the microscope. Regarding the HRT, many studies have been done and HRT is a contributing factor to the developement of breast cancer. I know I can't go on on HRT because of my family history of breast cancer (mother died at age 63-her breast malignancy did not show on a mammogram which only happens in about 10% of cases and maternal grandmother had bilateral breast cancer). Hang in there Keep a positive outlook. You will do just fine. Good luck and keep us posted.

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Originally Posted by dgxr20 Regarding the HRT, many studies have been done and HRT is a contributing factor to the developement of breast cancer.

Do you have references for that statement - links to articles in peer-reviewed journals that report results of studies concluding that HRT contributes to the development of breast cancer?

The only so-called "link" I am aware of is the recent reinterpretation of the WHI study results that showed that older women who were past natural menopause and then took Prempro for several years had a slight increase in incidence of breast cancer, but women on estrogen-only HRT did not. Women who have had a hysterectomy/BSO are typically younger than the women in the WHI study and do NOT take Provera, the ingredient implicated in the study's results. Additionally, even those women were found to have higher survival rates than women not on HRT who got breast cancer during the same period of time.

I have been diagnosed with breast cancer twice since my hyst/BSO and have stayed on HRT through it all, with my DR's encouragement. In fact, I just discussed this issue with her a few days ago and she told me she is seeing more and more DRs realizing that the notion that HRT is "bad" for women at risk for breast cancer or that it causes breast cancer is outdated and incorrect.

(((Sue))) is this breast doctor an oncologist? You might want to discuss your questions about HRT with that doctor rather than your regular DR who may not have much knowledge at all about breast cancer and hormones.

ADH is not breast cancer; it is not even a precancer. It is merely an abnormal proliferation of cells in the ducts. Many women with ADH never, ever get breast cancer.

You might want to check out some of the articles linked in the Breast Health section of our Resource Links directory - there are some that explain ADH better, and some that talk about hormones, HRT and breast cancer.

Good luck with your biopsies!

s,
-Linda

I was diagnosed with ADH in Dec. of '07, and was told by my breast surgeon, my oncologist, and the gynecologist that did my hyster that HRT is NEVER an option for me. Because of that I kept my ovaries. I'm on tamoxifen for another 4.5 years, and am suffering from hot flashes. But, vitamin E (as recommended by both my surgeon and onc.) is helping. Good luck!!