2 years from when...exactly???

AlaskaDeb

OK...I keep reading that as a triple negative, stage 3 gal, my odds "get much better" when I reach the "2-year" mark....two years from when?  And how much better do they get?  I have been sticking my head in the sand when it comes to statistics because mine have always sucked! 

My Onc marks my anniversary date from my date of diagnosis, but I'm almost afraid to hope that the studies that say my odds are getting better uses the same date. 

My 2-year anniversary from Dx is Dec 7th.  So far I'm NED.  Should I plan the party or do I have to wait until 2 years from the end of treatment?? LOL

Deb C

Anita57687

If I were you, I'd play it safe and party on both days!! 

After all, two years from dx is still two wonderful years.  And then two years after treatment is two more.  And then party again at 3, 4, 5...  (You know, rinse, repeat!) 

ravdeb

Treatment begins when you get that biopsy and they tell you it's cancer. This is JMHO but treatment is just that..treating or taking care of a situation. When you have a lump you go for a biopsy. If it's not cancer, treatment ends. If it IS cancer you go for either surgery or chemo first, etc. So, when they talk about survival they talk about when you have begun the fight and that is the moment you find out you have survived cancer thus far...at diagnosis.

I believe that they say that when you are a two year survivor, it is marked from the day you were told you have cancer.

I'm over two years out..was given the diagnosis on Sept 5th, 2005.

Boo46

Hi Deb,

You know I've wondered the same thing many times. I like Ravdeb's opinion!!!

Don't know how to interpret the "much better" either. I've read that also but have never seen specific stats to go along with it.

So I choose to count my years from date of dx. I still have 8 months to go before I can say 2 years. Being a stage 3 trip neg gal myself any improvement in prognosis is welcomed.

So congratulations on almost being at your 2 year mark. As Anita says, party on both days

Sue

Watson

I've heard 5 years, 3 years, 2years.  I never asked my onc.  I was starting to think it was an urban myth. 

I agree we should celebrate every milestone.  I do a mental cartwheel everyday. I'd do a real one, but no one really wants to see that.  lol

I'm 2.5 years out from dx sooooooooooooooo...........I threw in a hurkey(sp?) and a toe touch just for giggles.

I'll try to research the subject and report back.

Watson

NarberthMom

Here's a recent article on the subject:



http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/13/15/4429





Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Clinical Features and Patterns of Recurrence



Rebecca Dent1, Maureen Trudeau1, Kathleen I. Pritchard1, Wedad M. Hanna1, Harriet K. Kahn1, Carol A. Sawka1, Lavina A. Lickley1, Ellen Rawlinson2, Ping Sun2 and Steven A. Narod2

Authors' Affiliations: 1 Department of Medical Oncology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center and University of Toronto; 2 Women's College Research Institute, Women's College Hospital and University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada



Requests for reprints: Steven A. Narod, Women's College Research Institute, 790 Bay Street, 7th Floor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1N8. Phone: 416-351-3765; Fax: 416-351-3767; E-mail: steven.narod@wchospital.ca.



Purpose: To compare the clinical features, natural history, and outcomes for women with "triple-negative" breast cancer with women with other types of breast cancer.



Experimental Design: We studied a cohort of 1,601 patients with breast cancer, diagnosed between January 1987 and December 1997 at Women's College Hospital in Toronto. Triple-negative breast cancers were defined as those that were estrogen receptor negative, progesterone receptor negative, and HER2neu negative. The prognostic significance of triple-negative breast cancer was explored.



Results: The median follow-up time of the 1,601 women was 8.1 years. One hundred and eighty of 1,601 patients (11.2%) had triple-negative breast cancer. Compared with other women with breast cancer, those with triple-negative breast cancer had an increased likelihood of distant recurrence (hazard ratio, 2.6; 95% confidence interval, 2.0-3.5; P < 0.0001) and death (hazard ratio, 3.2; 95% confidence interval, 2.3-4.5; P < 0.001) within 5 years of diagnosis but not thereafter. The pattern of recurrence was also qualitatively different; among the triple-negative group, the risk of distant recurrence peaked at 3 years and declined rapidly thereafter. Among the "other" group, the recurrence risk seemed to be constant over the period of follow-up.



Conclusions: Triple-negative breast cancers have a more aggressive clinical course than other forms of breast cancer, but the adverse effect is transient

NarberthMom

A little more information ... The two years is from date of diagnosis, although they weren't more specific than that. I'm assuming that they meant date of biopsy.



Here's some more detail from the article:



Table 5. Characteristic features of the triplenegative phenotype

Often present as interval cancers

Weak relationship between tumor size and node status

Rapid rise in risk of recurrence following diagnosis

Peak risk of recurrence at 1-3 y

Distal recurrence rarely preceded by local recurrence

Local recurrence not predictive of distal recurrence

Increased mortality rate first 5 y

Majority of deaths occur in first 5 y

Rapid progression from distant recurrence to death



Here's their summary:



"In conclusion, by using three standard pathologic markers,

we are able to show that the triple-negative category of breast

cancers exhibits a distinct pattern of recurrence. This pattern is

characterized by a rapidly rising rate in the first 2 years

following diagnosis, a peak at 2 to 3 years followed by a decline

in recurrence risk over the next 5 years, and a very low risk of

recurrence thereafter. Unlike women with other types of breast

cancers, the great majority of women with triple-negative

cancers who had no evidence of progression after 8 years did

not recur thereafter. It is hoped that others will extend these

results and conduct similar studies to determine to what extent

distant-free survival at 8 years is predictive of ‘‘cure.’’ The lack of

association between tumor size and lymph node positivity, the

high rates of distal recurrence, and the relative rarity of local

recurrence all suggest that these patients have a tendency to

develop visceral metastases early in the course of their disease.

Novel therapeutic options are needed to target this aggressive

type of breast cancer."

HollyHopes

ughhh...just when i was beginning to feel hopeful again....

Bastropian

Thank you Narthberth Mom for posting the details from the paper.



I had seen this recently also, and perhaps it was in same or different recent paper, but for HollyHopes, one of the points made for triple negs was how they contrasted to the more common breast tumors (hormone receptor positive) where the risk of relapse, they are finding, can extend out to 18 years. For triple negs with early stages, it drops drastically after 2-3 years.



The good news for all BC patients is the progress being made in sorting out all these nuances in tumor behavior, so as to select best therapy for each patient. 95% of pubished papers I've read about triple negs are from 2006 on.



Best,

Bastropian

nosurrender

I am sorry, but the date of that study is from 1997. WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY!!!

There are new treatments for triplenegative cancer and  I can tell you from personal experience from being diagnosed first in 2001 and second in 2007 that the differences are astounding.

Deb, I count my survival from the day I was told I had cancer- September 6, 2001. I was told I had the Bad one. Triple negative. NOW they tell me that since I have gone six years without it recurring it most likely won't ever recurr.

I did get a new primary of an ER/PR+ cancer because that is just the luck I have, but it has nothing to do with my original dx.

The longer you are ned with a tripleneg the better your odds are that it won't EVER come back.

Hold on DEB!!!

Love,

g

my site 

Sadie-Rose

Hi Friends,

I love this discussion.  I've been saying I am three years out from treatment, but from the discussion above I can now say I am four years from diagnosis.  How fun to get to add a year!  You made my day!

Warmly,

Sadie