Adriamycin+Taxol

batoday

My Onc recommends 4 x biweekly AC & 12 x weekly TX ,followed by Rads.  It seems AC+TX is the common regeimen for TN, but mine seems pretty long.  My Onc says since I am only 37yrs old, and the recurrence rate within 3 yrs amongst TN is 60% she strongly recommends this treatment.  I would like to hear from people in my age which treatment they have received..  Thank you.

angelsabove

Hello.....sorry u had to join us....but know there is GREAT support here. 

I was 36 @dx....I am now 36. I was Dx 4/27/2009.....I am now 37.

The treatment I received was 12 weekly Taxol. Four Tri- Weekly FAC......

I then did 32 radiation treatments. I did have a double mastectomy on 5/21/2009. I did my surgery prior to treatment.

I am curious about the 60% chance of reccurrence. Is that for ALL stages. My Oncologist never talks numbers to me. I am stage IIB......

I wish you lots of luck and MAY GOD BLESS US ALL 

Titan

I am older than you but I had 4 ac and 4 taxol dose dense,

I am too wondering about the 60% reocurrence rate...is that without any treatment?  My onc told me that I had a 30% chance of reocurrence, after chemo it would drop to 15% and after rads it would drop to 12%....hmmm...????

Dragonfly1976

I am 33, 32 when I was diagnosed. I did 4 of the AC, 1 every 2 weeks. Then I did the 12 doses of Taxol 1 every week. All this followed by 33 RADS, and a double mastectomy!!

batoday

I asked her about the % benefit I would get from chemo because I read in some postings that it only reduces by 1%.  She wouldn't say the benefit % but said the overall TN reccurence rate is that high.  I was like "wow".. and I coudlnt' say anything.  I am not sure if she meant with or without treatments.  I better ask her at my next visit..

msmpatty

Batoday - My Onc keeps reminding me that all the percentages are "averages"...one's personal risk of recurrence is either "0" (no recurrence) or "100" (yes recurrence).   So, the key is to do everything you can to get closer to "0"!   The other thing to consider is not just recurrence, but survival.  There is a website (www.lifemath.net) that has a little calculator you can use to get some information on survival based on your pathology and treatment plan.  I don't know how accurate it is and it doesn't have the treatment being recommended to you (it is a 3rd generation treatment), but it might give you some idea of how chemo will benefit you.

I'm not TN and am much older than you, but I had the same treatment recommended for you.  I read the results of the trial that compared the weekly Taxol with other regimens and it showed really good results with the weekly Taxol.   Plus, having completed it, I can tell you that although it is a few weeks longer than some other options...the Taxol part was pretty easy.  My hair even started growing back about week 6 of the Taxol!

Good luck with your decision.   In the end, you need to choose the treatment that feels right for you and gives you the most peace of mind.

Patty

jenn3

I am TN and had 4DD AC followed by 12 weekly Taxol and 33 radiation (28 reg/5 boost all with bolus).  I was due to have DD Taxol, but the protocol for the trial I was in stated I had to do 12 weekly if I wanted to stay in the trial, which I did.  I had some SE's with Taxol that the onc said may have been a little harder to deal with had I done DD. 

I know it seems like such a long time, but you can do it and the end will be here before you know it.  Take it one step at a time and countdown, not how many more, it helps the mental mindset (i.e 1 down, only three to go rather than 3 to go, finished 1).  I remember getting the my percentage of recurrance rate, which was pretty high even with chemo and focusing on that number, but soon figured out that it only made me worry.  Once I let go of the numbers and focused on my mental and physical health I felt a sense of relief.  The way I figure it, it's a crap shoot - it's going to recur or not.  I'll fight it with everything I can and in the meantime love my life!

((((hugs)))) coming your way and I'm sorry you had to join this club, but you will find plenty support here.

Titan

If you go to that lifemath website add the word therapy and you can actually put in the therapy you will have..it does have 3rd generation on there...it has 3 to choose from...it doesn't have the weekly taxol but dd but I think that either. is pretty much the same,

I'm at 11% survival.....and my tumor was 1.8...I think that since your tumor is much smaller.your % is much less.

Titan

In fact bat to day...I put your stats in..hope you don't mind but I sometimes play around with that stuff though I shouldnt and your stats are .06..which is awesome...that is you have a chance of 99.4% of being alive after 15 years...I have an 89% chance which isn't too bad either,!

It did say though that having chemo would improve your life span by around 100 days....if you play around with it you can see that tumor size and nodal status make a difference...plus treatment too!  Hope that helps!   

Titan

Patty and Jen you are so right about trying to not concentrate on stats....!  but in the early part of treatment I think that is what you want to know..I was crunching numbers continously....I still do occasionally...but hardly ever now...I do tend to freak out a little when I read 60% chance of reoccurence...I'm thinking what the heck?  Then I start crunching numbers again and try to calm myself down.

cwrightrn

Batoday--I was diagnosed at age 39 and had dose dense ACT...you can peek at my profile for all my treatment/chemo/surgery/rads.  I was stage 3 at diagnosis and within a year was stage 4 despite doing "prophylactic" chemo--trying to keep the cancer monster at bay.  Stats are tricky things....there are a lot of varying factors.  I agree with Jenn3--read and re-read what she wrote about the mental mindset.  I think it helps too that you are young and will handle chemo well--I have had some brutal regimens and have flown through them with little side effects and I attribute it to my age and overall good health (except for the cancer).  Being TN is scary and hard BUT there are options....although we only have chemo for treatment options there are MANY chemo cocktails.

Hang in there

Blessings and hugs

Carole 

Sugar77

Batoday - a recurrence rate of 60% seems very high to me and is totally different than what my onc told me. My stats are similar to yours and the stats I've read for TN stage one are more in the 10% - 15% recurrence rate. I did TC x4. Good luck!

Luah

At my first appointment, my onc said my lifetime chance of recurrence was roughly 40-60% - that was with NO ADDITIONAL TREATMENT after surgery. I don't think that was a trip-neg specific stat - more a stat for my grade (3) and stage of cancer.  (My sister was told something similar and she did not have trip-neg).  Onc said the chemo would reduce that risk by 30%... so I end up with 28-42%... double to triple the risk for the average woman on the street.  However, some studies have also shown that a low fat diet with exercise can reduce that risk again.  So I intend to pursue that since I can't have the benefit of hormone therapy.

Frankly, I like the cancer math stats but they only go out 15 years, and I am not sure how much they take into account the unique trip-neg pathology. For instance, I don't see any big improvement after 3-4 years, but studies do indicate that our risk subsides significantly at that point.

I did 4 AC, followed by 12 weekly taxol.  Have just 3 more to do. It seems like a long haul but it is very doable, especially the taxol.

Titan

Luah..agree with you on the past 3 year mark for tns' and the lifemath website...it shows percentage of "not being around' increase after 3 years...what the heck...guess that is a good reason to maybe not worry about the stats.

Bottom line ladies...get the most aggressive treatment you can..it is only a short time...then exercise and eat right...but don't become all freaky about things...you have to live your life and have fun doing so...I have seen "healthy' people drop dead from heart attacks and never did anything wrong....not saying to be stupid about things...but geesh.you just never know.

And the treatments are doable..yes they suck and are not fun...but they are doable..

Hugs to you all!  

Phil Mickleson just won the Masters..I was in tears as I watched him and his wife
Amy...they said she had been in bed and just came out today....Thank God for our support persons and the people who love us.

Luah

Wise words, Titan!

batoday

Thank you ladies.  Ty Titan for my stat.  Acutally my onc told me my stat gives 93% of chance of survival but that is overall without TN factor.  I've been thinking and I've decided to stop worrying about stats any more.  As Patty said it's 0 or 100.  I will just do whatever I can and leave everything else up to God.  I will see another Onc though to make sure what is presented to me is the best option for me.  Thank you everyone for your postings.  Reading them gives me a lot of support in a very difficult stage.  Love and blessings to you all. ;-)