Radiation and Chemotherapy does it help or kill you faster

helenelv1944

i am 70 female and i am on chemo with breast cancer grade 3 stage 1 ..but i am hearing as well as reading horrifying things about Radiation and Chemotherapy. instead of helping or curing i hear it kills you faster, & gives you cancer. i am terrified   is this true? 

flaviarose

While chemo and radiation have risks, not treating an aggressive (grade 3) cancer is also risky.   And, while some of the risks of chemo are acute - meaning you might have an allergic reaction to the chemo drug - most of the risks are long term - so that chemo and/or radiation might have a side effect of possibly causing cancer 10 or 20 years down the road - without them you might not live long enough to experience those side effects......

ziggypop

helen - I have replied to you on the other thread you posted on as well. Basically the answer is no. Chemo and/or radiation are only given when the potential benefits far outweigh the potential risks. 

ruthbru

Any treatment has risks, but without treatment cancer will kill you FOR SURE.

Faith316

Without chemo, I'd be dead by now most likely. Instead, I am thankfully NED (no evidence of diseasa.)

beenheresince1957

I completely understand your fear. I had a very small, low grade tumor and I acted fast and had mastectomy of both breasts and reconstruction due to family history of same cancer. I had one node with micro involvement trace, 0.827

Mom had same size and grade of BC and had no Chemo or Rads at same age is now 78 years old with no return.

I went radical with the breast removal to avoid adverse treatment. Neg on BRca 1/2 and scored 0 on ONCATYPE-DX I  hit the jackpot with a big ZERO so no Chemo..Now my decision is whether to risk Radiation with my circumstances. I am in good health in all other respects and do not want to start down that slippery slope. Mom did fine for 19 years on oral meds.

My surgeries are done and I am healed up and ready to move on!

Hate having to make this decision !!!!! :-/

anil2k

Hi Beenheresince1957,

I read your post.

My
mom had a biopsy last week on her right breast. The tumor was stage
1 (7mm). During the biopsy, the surgeon found the nodes to be positive and
removed all of her lymph nodes. The report said "wide local excision +
right axillary dissection".

She does have a family history of breast cancer (her mom + her sister).  How did you decide on no chemo - it is because you scored 0 on the onctotype Dx test? 

Also, how does BRCA1/BRCA2 test determine use of chemo or not? 

We think our doctor is very aggressive and took out all her lymph nodes as he found 1 of them to be suspicious. We are now scared that, if at all the doc is aggressive, he may suggest chemo when there could be no need for it. 

Can you please help us out here - would be great if you could share your decision making process?

AlaskaAngel

Science only looks at what the scientists think to research.

For example -- There is strong family history of bc on both my paternal and maternal sides. Yet out of all those relatives who had bc, only ONE ever died from it, and none of them did chemotherapy (and that one was diagnosed in the 1950's and hers was detected very late stage). Despite raising that personal evidence as one factor that could be considered, no medical provider included that in the calculations for my treatment. In 2002 I did chemo, rads, and a little over a year of tamoxifen as a 1.6 cm IDC HER2+++, ER/PR strongly positive with sentinel node negative and have never recurred, but I doubt the treatment was helpful to me. My older sister was dx'd 2 years before me and chemo and tamoxifen were recommended. She did just 2 weeks of tamoxifen and has not had recurrence of IDC now for 14 years. About 4 years ago she was diagnosed with IBC and because it is more often fatal, she did chemo, rads and hormonal treatment for that and has no had no recurrence of either bc despite being morbidly obese.

I find it remarkable that even though the vast majority of early stage bc patients get zero benefit from extensive treatment, so many of them still believe that in their own situation, without clear proof, the treatment "worked".

To answer one of your questions -- BRCA positivity indicates a greater risk for recurrence. (I was BRCA I and 2 negative.) So does having any positive nodes.

LRM216

No, Helen, it is most definitely not true.  While there are horror stories out there of rare cases where it didn't turn out well, one has to remember that those are not ordinary cases, but very rare tragedies.  I was 62 at diagnose with triple negative BC and went as aggressively as possible with my chemo and rads.  I am not going to say it was easy for me, and I had a few serious side effects to contend with, but I made it through it all and am still here 5 years later.  Not sure I would be had I not done the chemo and rads - no one can say for sure, but I do know that should it ever come back, I have done absolutely everything possible that I could do in the hope of killing it.  I am a widow raising my grand-daughter, and worked full time throughout it all, so as bad as it was for me at times, I still was able to plod through it all.   What you are feeling is something each and every one of us has gone through in the beginning as well.  Whatever you decide to do, we will support you all the way.  I wish you nothing but the best.

Linda

mjm1

Hi Helene,

From your earlier posts, I gather you have grade 3 her2+ breast cancer, which is what my mum has. The treatments are not pleasant to go through, and a very very small percentage of people have serious adverse health conditions from the treatment. However, the treatments are also highly effective and save many many lives.

It's a scary diagnosis, but one with a lot of cause for optimism given the treatments now available. In all your posts you sound so terrified - I hope you can find some comfort from the quality of treatments now available, and the many women who survive and live long and healthy lives after treatment.

Best wishes.

coraleliz

anil2k-It is true that some surgeons are more aggressive with margins & node removal. The surgeon does not order/provide chemo. Your mom will have to see a medical oncologist for that. Some oncologists are also more aggressive. It sounds like your mom is "early stage". She may be given the statistics & told to decide which risk she wants to take. That's what happened in my case.

mjm1

Hi anil2k, as coraleliz said, it will be an oncologist not the surgeon who will discuss chemo with you. 

Did the report mention the grade of the cancer (1 is least aggressive, 3 is most aggressive), whether its ER, PR or HER2 positive or negative, and whether the node that the surgeon was suspicious of ended up having cancer in it? These things can all affect the decision about what treatments are recommended after surgery (along with BRCA tests if these are done).

The oncologist should be able to give you some stats on the likelihood of the cancer coming back with or without their suggested treatment (or if they give options, the stats for each of these options), plus the risks of serious side effects. 

Meow13

Helen,

Maybe you can have an OncoDx or Mammaprint done if you are ER+ or PR+? Sounds like you need more info on the how Chemo might benefit you.

I am taking exemestane, I don't like taking pills but side effects and risks I believe are less than Chemo.

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