Need input... neoadjunct. Chemo not working

ForMyLife

Hi Everyone,



I have been on this forum since diagnosis soaking up every ounce of info I can (and staying positive), but now I'm scared to death. I had a scan today to check the effectiveness of my neoadjunct chemo (half way through tax of ACT) and its not working. My tumor and 2 nodes have not shrunk at all!!!! In fact my mass increased by 2mm. Has anyone NOT had a great response to neoadjunct chemo and still have done well? or does this mean I'm in big trouble?



Has anyone been through this situation? I'm freaking out!

Luah

Formylife: I didn't do neoadjuvent, and hopefully some other ladies will be along shortly to advise. I do know that for some women the taxol demonstrated shrinkage, and for others, the AC. Sometimes women have moved on to a different regime altogether - there are many different options. What does your onc say? 

Totally understand your anxiety, try to hang in there until you have some more answers. 

Babs37

ForMyLife- I had neoadjuvent chemo, 4 DD AC and 12 weekly Taxol and it was only at my last 3 taxol that my nodes started to shrink. I know how you must feel right now because I was scared too. Even though my 3 tumors and 2 nodes shrunk so that we could not feel them, at surgery, the pathology came back that there was still a little bit of cancer in my breast and nodes. But I'm 2 years out from surgery and doing just fine. Hang in there.xx

Denise-G

I write a breast cancer blog and I hear from many women who are TN.  One gal had multiple tumors and they grew on AC chemo.  She was terrified, of course.  They switched her to Taxol/Carb and after 6 weekly treatments, her tumors are down to where she might be able to have a Lumpectomy.  She wrote me to tell me this so I could give others encouragement.  I am passing that on to you! 

If you are not happy with your ONC, CHANGE!!!  

ForMyLife

Babs37

Thank you so much! My MO appt. is tomorrow morning. I'll see what they say. I can't believe that the AC didn't work and terrified I'm going to one of the TNs that can't be stopped by any chemo.

Luah

Formylife: Just to clarify, you've only done the taxol part of the ACT, have I got that right? That doesn't mean that AC or some other drug combo won't work. Keep us posted on what your onc says. 

ForMyLife

Hi All,



Just an update and clarification for Luah.I only have 1 AC treatment left. Then taxol. Even though my tumor has increased in size my onc. thinks we should still finish out the full tx course. I could be wrong, but this just doesn't sound right to me. It seems to me, it should be having some effect by now. Should I get a 2nd opinion or just wait it out like my onc suggests?



Julie

stride

Hi ForMyLife, I ended up with chemo-proof TN actively growing at the end of six cycles of Taxotere, Adriamycin and Cytoxan. My onc insisted I finish the course for systemic benefit. I see a couple of differences between my case and yours. First, I only had 1 nod

e that looked suspicious in scans. It was negative after chemo. Second,  my tumor started as PR+, and the PR+ cells did respond to the chemo. So I am not sure that what was right for me would be right for you. But you asked if anyone who had a bad response ended up OK, and the answer is yes.

stride

Also,  I just saw your post that you have not had taxol yet. So that is good--you could still get a response when you start taxol.

Mardibra

I had neoadjuvant chemo. AC x4 and T x4. I didn't have any scans during chemo so I ave no idea what worked and what didn't. However, the pathology from surgery said "minimal evidence of disease". So, maybe the Taxol will do it for ya. If not, there are others to try. Hang in there girl!

Luah

formylife: Oh, I misinterpreted your statement in OP that you were halfway through tax of TAC to mean that you were halfway through taxol. I know several women here who didn't really see any results until they got onto taxol.... so try and be patient and see how that works. I can imagine your anxiety and how hard it is, but doing neoadjuvent can be very helpful. (One thing about my adjuvent chemo was that I never knew whether or not it was doing anything at all!)

ForMyLife

Thank you all for your input. Hopefully the taxol will do its thing. I know I need to be patient, buts it's sooo hard. I just want this stupid thing to melt away.

Hope999

Is your tumour solid or cystic?  Mine grew after 1 round of neoadjuvant AC (5th round of chemo) but it was because cells were dying inside and increasing the fluid.  I also had to finish the last 3 rounds as the oncologist insisted that it was necessary to kill off any cells floating around my system. 

I had the surgery soon after it grew but mainly because I was metaplastic and they didn't want to take any chances.  On the other hand, I saw quick results on a platinum/taxotere combo that preceded the AC - that sucker shrunk daily, lol.

It's still early to claim success but the scans right before surgery were clear.  I'm impatient like you but listen to those who have had all 4 rounds of AC and say that it takes time.  The drawback with getting surgery with it still large is that the surgeon will have to cut much wider which can lead to a concave indentation in your chest.

DeliriumPie

So happy to stumble on this thread today. I just finished my fourth dose dense AC round today and met with the MO for the first time since before treatment. I had one positive lymph nide known when starting and a 4 cm tumor. By feel, not scans, to my surgeon and nurse practitioner, thelph mode began shrinking immediately and as if two weeks ago was completely gone. However, by MOs measurements today, the breast tumor has grown significantly. I don't understand. Confused and depressed. She said it could have grown much larger between when I saw her and started chemo, which was two weeks. This is plausible to me since my tumor grew so fast to start with, but still not what I wanted to hear. I start my 4 of Taxol week after next, so maybe that will help. But why total and speedy lymph response but not breast? Isn't it the same cancer cells??