Anyone else not get a taxane chemo ?

Suewirral

Hi, I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in December 2013 and following a wide local excision (lumpectomy) my oncologist precribed Epirubicin and CMF (see my treatment below as i can't remember the spelling). It was only when I started my chemo that I realised that many tnbc receive a taxane and I did not. I am trying hard to give myself the best possible chance and i do worry. I have since spoken to my oncologist who said that as I was node negative I did not need taxol but I know now that tnbc is very aggressive.

Any thoughts would be gratefully received, Sue

pennylane

Hi Sue...I was treated for stage 1 triple neg back in 2005...did chemo in oct and nov of that year...Treatment was in MSK in nyc...and in 2005 women with stage 1 received dose dense A&C....A brutal and effective cocktail...Taxanes were not even offered...I have since met many women who were triple neg and like us did not receive taxanes as part of their treatment...All have done remarkably well...I would be hard pressed to think of any who were stage 1 and had a recurrence....Just like you I fixated on the "T" being omitted from my treatment...Please try to let it go...Triple negative is not this awful subset of bc...It just has no targeted drug or hormone therapies...You must know that recurrence rates go way down with each passing year for our group and therefore the awful buzz about triple neg truly seems unwarranted to me...You are very new to this bc thing...You will gain confidence with time...and believe me you will have many many years to get good at this...Best wishes to you, ....P

Suewirral

Thanks so much for that Penny, it was very reassuring. Can I ask how old you were at diagnosis Penny? I was nearly 60, had my big birthday in July this year. Many of the tnbc girls are much younger than me which is awful especially if they have little ones. However my adult kids still need me for support. i post a fair bit on the UK tnbc site where the girls especially Sylvia have been giving me support as one of my daughters has just found a breast lump and we are off to the breast clinic tomorrow

love Sue x

nitto

My oncologist gave me a choice of TC or CMF. I choose CMF 10/2013 for Stage 1 no node involvement.

Suewirral

Thanks Nitto, can I ask are you in the UK? also how old are you if you dont mind me asking? I am 60.

Sue

Elgen

Hi Sue,

There is no need to be obssessed with a particular class of drugs. In my case, had one cycle of taxanes (once every week for three weeks). I tolerated well, but the drug did not work. The tumor swelled. Had to switch to AC right after.

Elgen

Suewirral

Thanks for your reply Elgen. I am sorry the tax didn't work for you but as you say tax does not work for everyone. I have a friend whose tumour also grew on tax. I hope there will come a day when they can target the right chemos to our cancers as it does seem a lottery as to what works and what doesn't.

How are you getting on? Did the AC give you any more success?

Best wishes Sue

Elgen

Hi Sue,

I had some success with AC for some time, but then the tumor stopped responding. I was put on another drug.

AC is part of the standard treatment and commonly used. Many that I know respond well. It could be a little heavy on the heart. Good luck.