breast pain while in neo-adjuvant chemo?

Tundra

Hello lovely ladies,

It's been awhile since I've posted here -- I've just been caught up in my treatment still. It's nearly been 6 months of neo-adjuvant chemo for me.

 I have a question for you... for those of you that had neo-adjuvant chemo, did you ever experience breast soreness while on chemo?

Or, to be more frank, did you ever think that the chemo wasn't working?

I did 10 weekly rounds of Taxol, which I responded pretty well too -- my mass went down by 2cm and my redness (I have IBC) dissappeared. 

But I am now on 4 cycles of AC and for some reason for the past month I've had soreness and heaviness in both breasts. Yes, both.... not sure why.

My surgeon examined me this past week and we are going to do some ultrasounds this coming week to see what's going on.

 Apparently I'm operable, which is great. But it's all still kind of unsettling.

Thanks in advance for your replies and all the best to you!

xo

chrishat

hi there,

i too started out with neoadjuvant chemo, although i did my AC first. when i was diagnosed, i had no pain at all in my breast, but around the time of round 3 of AC ( i was doing it every two weeks) i started having a stabbing pain in the area of my tumor. i also was really questioning whether the chemo was working because i could feel my mass in my breast and it seemed to not be getting smaller. my surgeon and onc both kept reassuring me that the discomfort was probably 'the response of the cancer to the chemo' but my spidey sense told me something wasn't right. so after my 4th AC, i got my onc to order another mri.( i had had one at diagnosis, so this was about 2 months after that.) the mri showed no treatment response whatsoever to the chemo, and new, additional vascular activity in the area of the tumor. !!!!!! i was advised that luckily, i was switching to taxol at that point anyway. but i said, uh-uh, i want my surgery now. so i waited til 2 weeks after the final AC, had my surgery, waited two more weeks, and started taxol. my pathology confirmed that i had not responded at all to the AC. we will never know if i responded to the taxol, since the tumor was removed at that point. so i guess i am living proof that for some, AC does not work. at least you know that you have been responding to the taxol! which is great! i have done more research and talked to more oncs since and have come to understand that highly ER+ tumors, like mine, are sometimes less responsive to chemo. but when you're stage 111 you have to do it anyway, of course. it sounds like, in any case, you are almost finished with chemo and can move onto your surgery. good luck with it all, i wish you the very best!

christine

bak94

Ugg. That is not what  I want to hear! I am on neoadjuvent ac for triple neg and have felt a little discomfort in my breast with the lump, also in my other breast. My tumor is hard to feel, I can't find it as it is in deep, so I do not know if ac is working. I am getting a scan after my next (3rd) ac to see if there is any change. I guess I will know pretty early on if ac is doing anything for me. I also have an internal mammary node positive, and I think I am having tenderness there also, and it is not operable, that is why I am doing chemo first. I just thought the soreness was from the tumor melting away!

jennyboog

I did neo-adj also but did AC first and I saw my IBC leave and tumor shrink and then I did Taxotere and didn't see anything and got so disappointed so I did have times where I wondered if it was working.  My dr said she felt like it was working, it wasn't spreading and tumor felt softer (was very hard at the begining).  I did seem to have some pain in my breast that I can remember.  I hope that's a good sign for you.  Hang in there, the end will be here before you know it.

chillipadi

I've just started my second cycle of Gemzar + Carboplatin. My tumor mass covers my whole breast and, as it's broken through the skin, it's very easy to monitor. I have had lumps as large as oranges, so when there's growth or shrinkage, it's easy to see.

After my very first chemo infusion, I could see shrinkage within 24 hours. Over the next fortnight, when I had another infusion (making it one cycle) there was further shrinkage. There was also excruciating pain, both on the surface as well as internally. As the tumors broke down, and craters appeared, they became raw and red, like what burn victims experience. They also bled easily. Taking showers and changing the wound dressing became an agony. I never knew water could be so painful!

Internally, there was constant and sharp squeezing pains, 24/7. Not 10 minutes went by without me being in pain. I think that when cancer cells die and their blood vessel network collapses, they release whatever they've been strangling, resulting in more pain. The hard lumps in my breast are softening gradually and collapsing, so the chemo cocktail is obviously working. And I've just had 3 infusions (yesterday was No.3) so far. Pain can be a good sign.

bak94

Chillipadi, I am so glad you are having a good response to chemo, but so sorry you are in such pain. My heart goes out to you. Big hugs from Seattle.

chillipadi

Seattle? Love Seattle! Haven't been there in a long time. What are you doing awake at this time? Thank you for the hugs. (((HUGS))) back to you

ma111

The pain I had while in neo was from the chemo killing the cancer. Chemo does stop work, especially with the Her+ group. Your doctor seems to be looking into it by ordering an ultrasound.

I started a vaccine trail at the National Institute of Health on Monday. I have noticed more shrinkage from the vaccine than from chemo. Not having the side effects from chemo and seeing the cancer shrink is so nice!

Some of te trails require you to be in remission, so look at them now clinicaltrails.gov/ It was my research that got me into the trail. Doctors don't want to add to our stress by suggesting we travel for treatment. Most trails will halp with transportation, meals and lodging after your are enrolled. Seattle, Bestheda and John hopkins seem to have the most vaccine trails.

AnacortesGirl

No answers for you. 

It was pain in my breast that sent me in only to get a dx of cancer.

I had pain during my first chemo which was Taxol.  There was slight reduction in breast tumors (detected via MRI) plus the lymph nodes were no longer palaple.  But no pain on AC and the tumors gained back what they lost on Taxol.  Still couldn't feel anything under my arm, though.  The number of nodes involved on the path report surprised everyone.

7of9

I started having breast aches around the last of my 4 neoadjunct A/C treatments. They got stronger when I started Taxol...and though I had very little shrinkage during the AC rounds...1 week after my first Taxol my surgeon and then a week later my nurse practitioner confirmed my larger tumor had gone from 2 cm to less than 1! I have had some aching in my left arm pit which partially I think is good, partially bad because I'm wondering if I had lymph node involvement (damnit). Nothing will be conclusive until the surgery but I'm on the bandwagon of "it means its working".

Karina121293

Tundra, I had four rounds of neo adjuvant chemo and yes, my breast was painful. I don't remember where, but while searching for answers, I read that it's a good sign, which means that chemo is working. My tumor shrank from 4 cm to 2 cm. What comes to heaviness, I didn't have any in my breasts, but  my neck was so "full" and heavy  throughout the whole chemo period, then went away on its own. I would always ask my RO to check it thoroughly every time, but there was nothing and she kept telling me, that it could be from the drugs.

Hang in there dear. I suppose we can have all sorts of strange sensations in our bodies from chemo. You are almost there and its great , that you are operable. You will feel so much better mentally after the surgery. Good luck and keep in touch.

lostinmo

I'm on my 3rd round of AC and have felt little pains in my tumor area.  I know for a fact mine is shrinking because I can see it getting smaller and my bra now fits like the other side. Gives me smiles.

new_direction

I'm in neoadjuvant treatment and have had pain throughout all cycles until now.
I have completed 4 anthracyline/cyclophosphamide cycles and am now on taxotere.
The pain/soreness was at the greatest on my first AC was reduced a bit every time. On the first day I could actually feel the tumor soften a bit.

My tumor shrunk from 3,5 cm on ultrasound and was gone (on ultrasound) after 4 cycles. The first taxotere was also quite painfull and for the first time I also felt something in my armpit. With positive sentinel node surgery that may not be such a big surprice, still I wonder why I didn't feel anything in the armpit during the first 4 cycles.
Has anyone else experienced that?

Shari0707

New direction... I had some pains during ac.. On my second taxol. And yes I feel it under my arm and the pain is more constant.. My mo just checks by touch no scans... What about you?

SeattleMama

Started neoadjuvant: first taxotere, cytoxan = allergic reaction to taxotere, BUT immediate difference in breast appearance.

Onc made me switch off taxotere to carboplatin, cytoxan.

3rd round, felt pains.  Ultrasound, tumor shrunk in half, lymph nodes' swelling shrunk in half.  3 weeks after 4th round, new benign mass GREW.  Another ultrasound, last 2 cycles cancelled and surgery moved up.  Just in the past week, new mass is growing out of control, PAIN!, and initial tumor back to growing again.

new_direction

Seattlemama - I'm so sorry to hear that but good they found out with such short notice after all. Hopefully your surgery went well? what are your plans now - a different chemo or something else?

shari 0707- I guess in this situation one is alert all the time, perhaps sometimes reading too much into things. However, I got a midway ultrasound which showed no signs of enlarged lymphnodes - I asked because I felt like the area was a bit swollen. Now I don't remember how swollen it was, it seems as if it might have gotten a bit bigger.Then before each chemo the doctor has felt both my breasts and the armpits. This last time he said there was absolutely nothing that could be felt. Of course he had to check for lymphnodes in the groin - which he had never done before so afterwards when I came to think about it I freaked out because I didn't understand why he would do so when there was nothing in the armpit (nothing = when standing with hands in the side a small area of the armpit protrudes a bit compared to the other side)...
I have now finished the 4th taxotere and surgery is ahead - 2,5 weeks from now... I guess at this time things cannot be cleared more out or speeded anymore up. However I still feel much pain in the armpit. Not knowing any answers I think I will write down my thoughts and try to let it be for now... 

- it could be cancerous cells being killed - feeling the same way as it did in the breast the first 4 cycles. Still I don't understand why it only hurt with Taxotere - as if cells have spread during therapy or taxotere only works on those particular cells in the armpit.
- or could it be dead tissue/cells that are "transported" away?
- it could be disease progression however it doesn't add up that the pain is worse right after chemo and then slowly disappears.

I really think the answer is to let go of all the worries - because we only worry about this because we know and things has gotten close. More things might be "close" we just don't know yet and rather know about this cancer than not know about it. Gives us the opportunity to spend our time more wisely. (I haven't started at this point obviously:) but realising time is precious is a big step for me... I've taken so many things for granted. I hope and pray I will see my kids grow up, be there for them. It's just too soon.

Shari0707

New direction... Let me know how things go.. Praying for you and ur surgery to go well.

new_direction

thanks a lot  Just wrote a small update in the other thread. Good luck to you as well with all of your treatment...

Shari0707

Wrote u back there too... Glad surgery went well!