tac or dose dense for trip neg

taj72

My mother was just diagnosed the Stage 3B, Grade 3, Triple Negative BC.  The surgeon is recommending neo-adjuvant chemo, then mastectomy, then more chemo and radiation.  We meet with the medical oncologist on Monday, May 4, to learn what chemo cocktail she thinks is required. My mom is 58, but has very low tolerance for pain.  It looks like most TN are treated with DD AC then T.  What anti-nausea medicines do you recommend?  Which medicines seem to have the smallest side effects?  Any tips for getting her through chemo with the minimal amount of suffering?I read that sucking on ice chips during chemo seems to help reduce mouth sores, any thoughts?  Thanks for your help!

cebo

taj72, sorry to hear of your mother's diagnosis but you will get a lot of answers here--you also should consider joining the forums at www.tnbcfoundation.org, which is the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation web site, and posting your questions there.  My sister is the one who was diagnosed with TNBC, and she just finished chemo.  Every person is different and your Mom's chemo regimen wll depend upon a number of factors, but i would expect her doctors would recommend a dose dense regimen (instead of TAC) because it is more aggressive and associated with better results.  You are right that you want to treat this as agressively as possible up front, esppecially for more advanced stage disease.  The good news is that TNBC responds better to chemo than hormone positive breast cancer.  As for anti-nausea meds, Emend is usually the top choice, although there are many others they can give her if that doesn't do the trick.  There is a "magic mouthwash" to help with mouth sores (don't know the name, but her onc will )  My sister was told to avoid ice chips because they can sometimes take on the taste of the chemo drugs, and to suck on ice pops instead.  I m sure others who have been through this will post with more information, but I hope this helps--Good luck to your Mom and you--there is light at the end of this tunnel!!!! 

FloridaLady

See the "getting through treatment section" at the top there is a excellent thread on helpful chemo hints.

Flalady

Debonthelake

Hi,

I had sseveral options.  My doctor told me that Taxotere was just as good as Taxol and with fewer side effects. So I received Taxotere and Carboplatin( I believe another name for Cytoxin).  I received 6 doses 3 weeks apart.  I was offered aclinical trial where they alternated Taxol and Taxotere every two weeks.  It was experimental and they were trying to see if the more aggressive treatment would have a better outcome.  I decided to stick with the Taxotere and declined the TIC TAC study.  Now that I'm done I'm glad that I did.  The doctor tells me that there is some research to indicate that aggressive exercise, lean muscle mass and a low-fat mostly vegetable and fruit diet is as good as chemo.  If that is the case then I'm probably doing as much for myself by vamping up my life-style post chemo.  We all have to make up our own minds.  

God be with you.  The decision part is the most stressful.  I had trouble not second guessing myself even after I made the decision.

Mimsi

Carboplatin is a newer drug than Cytoxinalso known as cyclophosomide. Carboplatin is one of the "platins" which contain platinum.

Mimsi

Debonethelake,

Perhaps you had Taxotere and Cytoxan rather than Carboplatin. That is what I had. I had four dense dose treatments... three weeks apart. My onc said some research said this was as effective as the TAC. (a taxane, adrimycin and cytoxan).

gmp300

Hi Everyone, Iam new at this and trying to learn all the lingo and also trying to figure out if my chemo is the right one for me.  First what is the difference between tac and dos dense?  Also I just found out that my onc wants to give me Taxotere and Carboplatin  4 treatments 3 weeks apart.  Iam Stage 1- no nodes-TN.  Has any one else had that treatment?  Does it sound like enough? (not that I want more, but if I'm gonna do this I want to know that it is enough for me)

And I was wondering how the side effect from this regiman are.  When were your down days ?  When did you loose your hair.  Iwas also wondering about eyebrows, eyelashes and nails.  Just like everyone else I'm just trying to learn more about all of this.  I hate doing something blindly and finding out later all of the bad stuff.   Thanks again--Everyone is so great!  Geri

LRM216

GMP - Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but the way my onc described it all to me is that she saves the TAC for her younger patients and usually those that do not work outside the home as it is the strongest she can give.  It is a 3rd generation regime.  You will be getting all three of the drugs at one time.  I am 62, work full time, triple neg, 1.2 cm, no node involvement and she suggested for me that I go with the DD AC + T every two weeks, which is what I am doing.  Mine is second generation with only a 2% difference, so I went with it.  Hope this helps.

Linda 

jenniferb

I started Dose Dense A/C X 4 followed by Taxol X4 for TN at the end of March and am having Session #5 today. So far I am doing extremely well. For all the details and lots of pics, please follow my blog @ http://3nbreastcancer.blogspot.com/

jenniferb

I asked my onc (Stanford trained Dr.Michael Yen) today about the difference between TAC and Dose Dense ACT and he said the TAC is used for older patients and patients with heart problems. So, in fact, The DD ACT is more aggressive.

jaciruth

I was 48 at time of diagnosis and was given the choice of TAC every 3 weeks or AC-T every 2 weeks.  My oncologist showed me a couple of different studies and each one favored a different regiment.  Bottom line---both are aggressive and whatever you feel will work best for you is what you should chose.  With TAC you get 6 treatments of each drug and with AC-T you get 4 treatments of every drug.  I am now 4 years since I completed treatment and doing well. 

sandra67

I was diagnosed with idc stage 1 no nodes, triple negative. Had bilateral masectomy and I'm getting reading Monday, June 8th to start my first treatment of TAC. Any information would be appreciated. Thank you.