is chemo effective after 60 days of having surgery

julie8

hi!

i had a bilateral mastectomy on november 25 and read on your site that studies show that woman who wait more than 60 days after surgery the cancer is most likely to come back somewhere else in the body and they are less likely to survive than women doing it 30 days after. i don't want to subject myself to chemo (TC) if it's not going to be beneficial. any advice? what should i say to my oncologist? thank you for any feedback.

Moderators

Hi Julie,

As we said in our PM, unfortunately the Mods can't respond with any medical advice, although we're sure the ever-helpful members here will be along shortly to offer their thoughts and advice.

For reference, we're including the link to the Research News story you're talking about: Best to Start Chemotherapy Within 30 Days of Surgery

We hope this helps!

--The Mods

SpecialK

Julie - the effectiveness of chemo is not a black and white thing - i.e. - less than 30 days it works, more than 60 it doesn't.  What the studies show is what would be expected when taking into consideration the fact that we are all individual - a variety of outcomes.  These studies have combined patients with differing stages and types of breast cancer, differing nodal status, different receptor and Her2 status, so there is no head to head comparison regarding these factors.   Here is a link to an ASCO article:

http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/32/8/717

Is there a specific reason for any delay in commencing chemo after surgery for you?

Spookiesmom

I wouldn't think it makes THAT much difference. Special K put a good link up. Personally, I'd do chemo, just so *I* knew I'd done all I could to kill it.

Best wishes.