Taxol vs taxotere i

a2mm

Hi All

Had my first infusion of taxotere + cytoxan today, and had a slight allergic reaction to taxotere (heavy chest, flushing). They stopped the injection and just gave me cytoxan, and now I need to decide if I should try taxotere again with more pre-medication, or switch to weekly taxol. So I would do 12 weeks of taxol and every third week would also include cytoxan. Anyone have to make a switch like this before? Love the idea of less intense side effects, hate the idea of weekly infusions, likely port, etc. And I am cold-capping, so weekly cold capping will get old fast.

MountainMia

a2mm, Sorry this happened to you. I reacted to taxotere 3 times. Twice on my first chemo try, and then again a week later. After that, my MO switched me to AC. I was originally scheduled for taxotere and cytoxan, 4 cycles every 3 weeks. The AC (adriamycin and cytoxan) schedule was dense dose instead, so 4 cycles every 2 weeks.

One of the benefits of adriamycin, as I understand it, is lower probability of permanent neuropathy. But of course there are other trade-offs, and something to discuss with your MO.

SpecialK

Two thoughts - do you have the option of dose dense Taxol, so that you would get a larger dose but less often that could coincide with your Cytoxan? Also, because they are making the switch due to what would be considered an allergic reaction would Abraxane be an option? It is a taxane but does not have the same solvents as Taxol or Taxotere, which is often the part that causes allergic reactions.

a2mm

Hi SpecialK, thanks for your response. Yes, both were brought up as options from my oncologist. Taxol would indeed be weekly with cytoxan added every third week. She mentioned abraxane as well. It is my understanding that taxol and taxotere are in different solvents. I have looked into taxol vs abraxane comparisons in terms of aide effects, long-term effects, etc.

a2mm

Thank you, Mountain Mia. How did you tolerate the dense dose AC?

Hippmark

Hi a2mm. When you mentioned weekly Taxol (I am looking at this too; lower dose but more often as well as an added Cytoxan at some point), would you be going every day (M-F) for the treament? I am also looking at Dignicap, so I wonder about my tolerance for Diginicap every day, every week for 3 months. And that Taxol is a better drug with Dignicap too, Not that my hair should be the decision, but if I am going to use the cap, I want to see what has the better success rate of keeping some the hair and what I can tolerate.

a2mm

Hi Hippmark. Sorry I wasn't clear. For me it would be taxol once per week and cytoxan added every third week. The good news is that the duration of the taxol infusion is just an hour, so not as long of days. I did about 8 hours of the penguin cold cap yesterday and it wasn't fun and was a horribly long day, (starting one hour before infusions, ending 4.5 hours after) but was totally tolerable. I didn't take any pain medication or anything.

MountainMia

I did fine with the AC, no unusual problems. I had very little nausea, had somewhat lower energy throughout the course, and became somewhat weak (less capable of going for a walk without sitting down, for instance). My blood counts were okay. Stuff tasted weird; I lost my hair; all the normal things. About 2 weeks AFTER my last dose, my fatigue hit me hard, and that last a couple of weeks. Basically nothing abnormal, though.

Hippmark

Thank you for the info.! This is the course of treatment I hope for too. I know it makes it longer, but, because I am alone, I need to find viable alternatives to make it through chemo. I appreciate the one day a week (if that's what I get). I could manage that! Even with the cold cap! And once a week, maybe I wont need a port. Anything to make this journey a little more tolerable!