Bilateral instead of chemo

Savedaright1

My wife is currently going through chemo and has done 2 rounds. She has been considering bilateral mastectomy in lieu of further chemo. She is stage 1 Her 2 positive. Has anyone decided against chemo and instead had a bilateral. She is worried about all the by products associated with the taxatir. Any feedback would be appreciated

ChiSandy

Apples & oranges—bilateral has no effect on chemo, just on radiation. Chemo is determined by the characteristics of the tumor itself.

ElaineTherese

Hi!

A bilateral mastectomy will only address the cancer that is in your wife's breasts. It is a local treatment. Chemo is systemic -- it is supposed to kill the cancer cells circulating in your body so that they cannot settle down and find a new home. Since your wife is HER2+, which is an aggressive form of breast cancer, chemo is typically recommended. Moreover, Herceptin -- a targeted therapy for HER2+ cancer -- is typically given with a taxane (either Taxotere or Taxol). As an HER2+ woman myself, I was happy to get Herceptin (and Perjeta). These treatments have helped thousands of HER2+ women avoid recurrence and mets.

If your wife is having problems with Taxotere's side effects, she may want to talk to her oncologist about taking Taxol instead. But, I wouldn't advise her to miss out on Herceptin if at all possible. Best wishes!

inks

Your wife needs chemo due to being HER positive. Mastectomy and chemo are not equal. Chemo adresses distant metasttasis, mastectomy would only cover local recurrence in the breast. But there was a study somewhere about monotherapy with just Herceptin. I'll see if I can dig it up.

stephincanada

Hi there,

I had my first taxotere (aka docetaxel) at 75% strength three weeks ago and found it to be remarkably tolerable. I had twinges of pain and didn't even need to take tylenol. My nurse navigator said that the side effects of Taxotere are bone/muscle pain and fatigue, and that there are excellent pain medications for the bone/muscle pain. Due to the aggressive nature of a HER2 tumour, I would not skip the chemo. I am doing chemo, Herceptin, Perjeta, radiation and a bilateral mastectomy. My motto is "survival at any price". People who have been through cancer treatment say that the negative aspects of treatment quickly become a distant memory.

Good luck.

Stephanie

mara51506

I would echo what everyone else is saying. Though it is an early stage cancer. HER2 is aggressive. I can attest that chemo plus Herceptin gives an excellent chance to avoid recurrence or metastasis at a later date.

The only reason I am stage IV now is that Herceptin and chemo could not cross the blood/brain barrier and I had cancer in my brain that was too small to see upon my initial diagnosis. However, I am fortunate to be disease free from the neck down which does improve my chances at recovering for a long time. That is definitely due to the chemo plus Herceptin. In my case I had the AC plus T since I was considered Stage III at dx.

Unless she medically cannot do the chemo/Herceptin, I would highly recommend it. Side effects can be dealt with fairly easily medically and there are always good complementary ways to deal with side effects too.

Good luck with whatever she decides. Ultimately she must choose what she can live with. I hope the best either way.