Humira or other tnf inhibitors

LAW193

Hello,

I am wondering if anyone here has been on remicade or humira or any other similar biologics before being diagnosed with breast cancer. If so, were you told to stop taking it? Was anyone told it was okay to take after a breast cancer diagnosis?

I was on humira for chronic uveitis for only 1.5 months before my bc diagnosis and was told to stop taking it. Luckily I have had no flare ups since then but I know it won't last - last year I had flare ups all year. My ophthalmologist said he would defer to the oncologist on this. My MO would not give me a definite answer on whether it is okay to go back to humira (there are probably not any good studies) - she said I probably shouldn't but people do if they have to.

Is there anyone here with crohn's or RA or other autoimmune problems who was given a clearer answer on this?

leger

Hi Law,

I was diag. with Graves disease in 2000, colitis in 2013, BC in 2014 and RA in 2016. I have been on methotrexate since november and do not see (or feel) any appreciable change. I was to start Humira 2 weeks ago but had a respiratory infection. I plan to start it next week. I am having a bone scan next Wed and wanted to wait until after that test. I'm convinced that there is a direct connection to CA and the immune system (or lack there of).

I'm not trying to be nosey, but I am looking at your stat's and noticed that you are HER +, Are you on Herceptin?

LAW193

Yikes that is a lot! But autoimmune diseases definitely seem to come in groups sometimes and there is still so much they seem to not know about them. Good luck with the humira!

I turned down methotrexate because I want to have children in the near future but it is usually used for uveitis too. (humira was just approved last year for uveitis although my dr has been using it for years). My oncologist said it would be a better option from a cancer perspective but clearly all meds are a balancing act of side effects, risks and benefits.

I am not on herceptin. I had 1.2 cm of DCIS but only 1 mm invasive and they said they said it wouldn't reduce my risk of recurrence enough to be worth the side effects. And it's not nosy to ask