Tumour flare pain

Redzer1

Hi,

I'm a long time lurker and need some information.

Can anyone who experienced tumour flare pain to their liver tell me how soon after chemo change did the pain occur and was there any indication of raised lft's or low white blood counts etc? Not ctc bloods, and how long did it last before it completely stopped

Thank you

Moderators

Hi Redzer-

Welcome to BCO! Have you read through our liver mets thread? You may want to post your question there, for more specific feedback from member's who are familiar with tumors in the liver: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topics/...

The Mods

blainejennifer

Redzer,

This is definitely a "your mileage may vary" situation. Tumor flare pain might vary due to what chemo you are taking and what sort of disease volume you have in your liver.

That said, I feel it when starting a new protocol. I have some lesions towards the top of my liver, and when the chemo hits, it feels like they are burning. When I did Halaven, I'd feel it in the week after chemo. On Doxil, I tend to get the feeling 10 - 14 days after infusion when the Doxil is most concentrated. It doesn't last long, as I take pain medication for it. I am a real baby when it comes to cancer pain. It affects my brain almost more than it does my body, so I like to shut. it. down.

If you don't feel tumor flare, that doesn't mean the chemo isn't working. I've been there, too. I used to think that if I didn't get any side effects that the chemo wasn't working, but time and circumstance have shown me otherwise. My blood values have never raised, so can't help you there.

Hope this helped, but it does remain a highly individual scenario.

Jennifer

Redzer1

thanks Jennifer,

Mine is Taxol, I got some back/kidney pain the day after the first infusion for a couple of weeks on and off but think it's may have just been the normal side effects of the chemo, Would tumour flare only be felt in the liver? Did you feel any with taxol? I'm wondering With TAxol, is it usually flare involving pain, or just straight up raised TM's? I know the hormonals can cause pain in bone mets but is flare pain in liver from TAxolcommon?guess I'll just wait and see

JFL

Hi Redzer, it is definitely all over the board. I had tumor flare pain within the first few months into hormone therapy that lasted a month or so and had flare from Xeloda within a few weeks of starting and it literally lasted over a year, while everything was shrinking and metabolically inactive in the case of both drugs. I am currently having liver pain and am praying it is flare again. I started Abraxane just under 3 months ago.

On hormone therapy, my liver enzymes (ALT and AST) spiked a bit a month or so into treatment which lasted a month. On Xeloda, my tumor markers went up for the first 3 months. I haven't had anything else go up during a flare when meds were working. When my meds are working, alkaline phosphatase goes down in addition to bilirubin, AST, ALT and sometimes tumor markers. All of those are rarely out of range to begin with but do go down further within normal range which is a good indicator for me.

One thought about back pain - it could be from your liver. I had have continuing pain on my right side of my back up and down the right side of my spine, sometimes pain in my ribs in the back (as well as the front) on the right side and a slight numbness in the mid-upper back on right side. Also, I can feel a sensation in my back when I take a really deep breathe, especially when laying on my back. It all feels like bone pain. It took me several years to realize all of that is from my liver mets and not my bone mets. There is a nerve behind the liver that is often pressed upon by liver mets which can cause back pain - either where the liver is located or referred pain in the shoulder or other parts of the back.

artistatheart

JFL, I have had all of that yo describe in the last week since my last infusion of Abraxane. I sure hope it is just liver nerves and not progression everywhere. Guess I'll find out soon, scans on Wednesday.