Carboplatin with Taxol after AC

aggiemegs

I had my last round of AC last week, and will be starting weekly Taxol next Thursday. My MO has suggested adding Carboplatin every third week, as there are studies suggesting that it helps prevent recurrence in TNBC patients. I'm on board with this plan, but the anxiety of new chemo and new side effects is starting to get to me!

Anyone have experience with Carbo + Taxol? Feels like I'm flying blind

khayden15

My oncologist just laid out my chemo plan and it's exactly what you listed above. I'm sorry I don't have any experience to share on how it went. How was the AC portion? I'm really nervous.

aggiemegs

AC was not as awful as I expected, but by the end, I was pretty run down. Just had my first Carbo + Taxol yesterday and am feeling fabulous so far. I'm sure I will crash once the steroids wear off!!!

Mamiya

I had the carbo/taxol first, followed by FEC (which is not so different than AC). I found the carbo to have some side effects that were mostly fatigue and a little nausea but not bad. The taxol didn't bother me at all. I am finding the FEC to be MUCH harder and in retrospect consider carbo/taxol to have been a breeze. So, if you survived AC the Carbo/taxol should be something you can totally handle and I hope it is easy for you!

sptmbrsunrise

My treatment plan is exactly the same as yours. I finished my four biweekly A/C treatments October 2nd and moved onto the weekly Taxol treatments, with Carboplatin planned for every third infusion.

The worst of my side effects for Taxol and Carbo so far seems to be my counts dropping; I received neupogen shots after my third and fifth taxol infusions. Last week I was anemic and fighting a cold, which brought back the fatigue for a while. I had my 6th Taxol infusion earlier today, but my hemoglobin was too low and my onc opted to hold off on the Carbo. Is it odd that I was actually a little disappointed to not get the carbo? Lol.

I don't have a metallic taste perse, but I notice that my tastebuds are definitely off.

MartyKay

Hi. I finished my 4 bi-monthly A/C treatments and moved on to Taxol. However, I had an immediate reaction of numbness in my fingers and toes so they stopped it. We moved to Taxotere the next week and it went okay, except for the fingers hurting a lot from the week before. I was supposed to have the Taxotere every three weeks. However, I then moved from NY to Florida and my new oncologist wants to add the Carboplatin EVERY week and do the Taxotere every 3rd week. Will begin that Thursday. My white counts were "in the toilet" with AC, so I don't know what they will do with chemo EVERY week, but I guess one just has to have faith that the oncologists know what they are doing, right?

By this way, this is all neo-adjuevant chemo and my surgery will take place after chemo is finished. The AC completely shrank my tumor.

Moderators

Hi MartyKay!

We just wanted to stop by and say hi and welcome to you. We know you've found the perfect place for support and advice as you navigate your treatment journey.

Please keep us posted on how the rest of your chemo treatment goes and as you gear up for surgery. You may want to browse the December 2015 Chem thread for advice about side effects, as well as the December 2015 Surgery thread to help you prepare for your upcoming surgery.

We hope this helps and look forward to hearing more from you!

--The Mods

Angtee15

Hi Martykay!

I started weekly Taxol yesterday for 12 weeks and then will have AC. This is neoadjuvant too. I asked the MO yesterday to see how she plans to guage how well the chemo is working over these next 12 weeks and she said it would just entail her physical exams every 3 weeks. Was surprised she didn't mention additional ultrasounds, etc. Can I ask how they checked your progress? So glad for you that the AC shrunk your tumor! Hope that happens for me.

Good luck!

MartyKay

Hi, I had AC first, and after 4 treatments, my surgeon said my breast felt as "smoothie as butter." Then I had the Taxotere with carboplatin every 3 weeks. I don't think anything came back, but oncologists only assessment was a breast exam. Waiting 4 weeks now for surgery.

Redporchlady

I had that exact combination a year ago.  A study had come out on it and I asked my ONC if we could add Carbo to my Taxol after taking my 8 weeks of AC.  I had read it increased my chances of getting a PCR which they are hoping will translate to a better outcome and no recurrence down the road.  I did get my PCR and I think it is because of adding the Carbo because I had a large tumor and 5 lymph nodes that ended up being treatment affected which means the chemo killed all the cancer cells!  I did have to start taking Nupogen shots about 7 weeks in.  My counts dropped really low along with my platelets.  I had one treatment postponed because of low platelets because the effects are cumulative as you get near the end.  They really watched the neuporathy.  I was getting it in my toes and fingers and was afraid they would stop the Carbo but they pushed on.  It took 6 months after chemo stopped for the neuporathy to go away.  Also my checkup in November finally showed all of my numbers back to normal!  I am glad we pushed our ONC at the time to add it.