Questions about Ibrance

Selizabeth12

So my mom is nearing the end of her chemo and will start her AI soon. Her onc has suggested Femara for her AI. She is staged 3C, so cannot have Ibrance at this point but.. I see that Ibrance is to be paired with Femara (for some reason I only see it suggested to be paired only with Femara)

My questions are:

1) If she ever were to become stage 4, can another AI be used with Ibrance instead of Femara?

2) What if she becomes resistant to Femara before becoming stage 4? Can she not use Ibrance as a treatment option?

Thank you to everyone who replies in advance (:

sandilee

Hi Elizabeth,

Femara is an effective AI, and your mom may do well on it and not recur. Many never do.

If she were to recur, Ibrance is in the process of being approved with Faslodex. It will likely go through this year, and your doctor may suggest that option instead of the Ibrance/Femara combo, but so far I think it's just for cancer that has metastasized.

If she becomes resistant to Femara while Stage III, your doc will have other choices- Arimidex, Aromasin, or Faslodex. He may decide to give her Faslodex alone. It works for years for many, all by itself.

It does appear that doctors are prescribing Ibrance with Femara even if someone has failed on Femara alone, so I assume they would do the same with Faslodex/Ibrance for stage IV.

There are many options out there, so there is good reason to have hope for your mom living a long time and feeling pretty normal while on these drugs. Tell her to have hope and enjoy these years!