curious about chemo....

My chemo was FAC (5FU, Adriamycin, Cytoxan) first then Taxol/Taxotere last.  I think your chemo sounds fine.  Adriamycin is the sister drug of Epirubicin (the E in your first combo).  There is a general treatment standard but some doctors may tailor it to fit the patient and specific situation.

momof4stars,

Your treatment is not standard for the US.  I see your in Canada.  But I've heard of a few people getting it here. Also did you have any issues with your MUGA test for the heart?  This combo is less stressful on the heart.  So this combo is sometime given.  I'm sure your chemo is fine.  Taxotere and  Cyctoxin are used here as  first line of treatment,  They are now not all the convinced that Adriam. is the perfect drug for TN as they thought.  But it is too early to change standard protocol for TN with early stage disease.  More studies are needed.  They are thinking Ixempra will be the first drug in a few years. Again more studies need done. They have not also proven that Avastin is necessary for early stage disease either.. That is why it is still in trials. So the best thing to do is ask your doctor why he chose this chemo combo.  There is more than one way to skin this cat.  Remember many early stage TN ladies have beat this disease without Avastin or any of the new drugs.  The key is early detection and good surgery that shows clear margins. You have been blessed with that.

I hope you can talk to your doctor and feel comfortable with his comments.  You need worry about taking care of yourself in chemo and hugging them kiddies.  There is no perfect fit all solution for any of us. You must have faith in your treatment whatever it is.

Flalady

Hi

I am er/pr neg too

Had FAC plus Taxotere, smae schedule. My tumor grew rapidly2-9cm, over discovery to removal(6 weeks), also had 2 positive nodes. Scared witless in the early stages....

I am also Her 2 + so received Herceptin on top of that.

3 years later still NED )))

Sounds pretty aggressive to me , your plan...

Don't dispair...hug your kids for me!

Good luck!

Hi momof4stars

I too live in Canada and had the same tx as you will be getting. FEC + Taxotere 3 rounds of each this last summer. It is an aggressive tx but for us triple negs who don't have the added punch of  the herceptin or other hormone drugs I wanted to give it all i had!

I found the FEC very tolerable, no real nausea, but kept up with the med schedules they gave me. My major problem was with my blood counts going low so had to give myself Neupogen shots each round to bring them back up.  The taxotere was ok too, wouldn't want to do it again but made it through.

Just keep up with the positive attitude as i think it makes the world of difference and you will do fine. When do you start your tx?  Good luck! 

Hi there!

What a forum. I can so relate to all the anxiety and fear your feeling Momof4!  I personally am in the U.S. and went through 4 TX's of A/C (every 3 wks) and now am doing 4 TX's of Taxotere every 3 wks. I have responded very well to the A/C. My tumor shrunk dramatically and I was able to have a lumpectomy. However now I'm in the boat of just discovering that I tested positive for the BRAC1 deleterious gene mutation. I now have to consider having my ovaries removed. (Has anyone done this? If so, please PM me). Let me tell you that was a shocker.

I don't know if you're a spiritual person, but my faith has helped me immensely. Like Flalady has said and others, if you respond well to chemo and it's early, we have a really good chance for survival. Think positive!

I'm sure you will do okay with chemo and you're on the right type of drug. It's going to be the hardest thing you go through but the support you'll receive will be great. This is a wonderful site.

Prayers & Hugs,

Jeannine

Hi Jeanine

I recall you don't have family history so how could you carry the BRCA1 gene? Did the doctor explain to you?

Hi Newalex,

 Yes. That's WHAT I thought. However my grandmother on my dad's side had bc (in her late 70's) and ultimately passed at 84. It has to be her. No one on my mom's side has bc. I asked if anyone else on dad's side had it and he says no.  Onc. nurse told me sometimes the genes passed on by our father is much stronger. Go figure??? 

My Doc. told me I don't have to make a decision now, but suggested removing the ovaries is good prevention. I'm with you momof4...we need ALL the prevention we can get.  I'm a little worried about insurance coverage.  My doc thinks it will be covered. Oh I asked her why we use A/C here and in Europe & Ont. they use FEC? She told me that if reoccurance should happen in far enough years, they might administer A/C up to 8 doses because we haven't hit "the tolerance limit" whatever that means! 

So I'm on the new TX option huh FL lady?  Many others at my clinic are on A/C and TX (Not TN but many HER2+)  I thought it was the standard.  Good info you provide here!  You sure are well informed.

 Jeannine

Hi newA

Yes I am on ACT. I am now on Taxotere.  Ugh. I think it's worse than the A/C!

 Jeannine

Hi there,

I started 6 rounds of Taxotere/Cytoxan in Dec. I am TN, BRCA1+, grade 3, 9 out of 20 positive nodes. I feel as though I am not being treated as aggressively as I could. Any thoughts? I brought it up with my oncologist and mentioned avastin, which he said is still in trial, but somehow, the discussion went no further. I need to write down specific questions for next time. Any suggestions?

Karen in Pittsburgh

Carbo and Avastin are to very different drugs.  Avastin is not really a chemo.  This drugs is used to stop the blood supply to the tumors.  Right now it is not approved for early stage disease.  But many of us have taken this drug outside of trials for recurrence's or very aggressive early disease. In other words a lot of nodes positive or possible skin involvement.

Flalady

Cin56,

Please show me the research that says TN is the disease to have?  I have study it aggressive for three years.  NO where does it show this is a positive thing.  This is why so many are scared and come to this section.  The percentages are against many of us.  Higher chance of recurrence in six months or less.  Higher chance of going to liver, lung & brain. That is why so few make it too the golden number of two years.  It getting to the two year mark disease free is the problem.  Many TN are chemo resistant...I'm one and I can name you other's on this site right now.  Check out our fellow sister's in the recurrence section.  Many of them our TN.

The big key to TN and the new ladies, will be the finding better chemo's and what doses to use.  Most of this happen in just the last year.  I do believe the future does look better for TN that for many even diagnosed just a few years ago. 

Bottom line still is we have the disease that the medical community knows the LEAST about.

Flalady

FloridaLady, it's posted somewhere on this forum. NOT that it is the disease to have, but the fact that if we can get past a certain point, we have less risk of recurrence. The report is somewhere on this forum. I read it on here and elsewhere, regarding the time factor. I can't remember exactly how long ago it has been since the report was posted...maybe a couple of years??? We use to have a poster who would find all of these scientific reports and post them for us. I can't remember her name. I do not have the time to go dig for it, but you should be able to find it on this board, if they archive. Maybe one of the older members has an idea. Best to you.

Edited to add:

PS...I do understand what you are saying and my heart goes out to any sister battling this disease, TN or otherwise. TN, like I said, is an aggressive cancer. Both my daughter and myself had it. I'm at 6.5 years and my daughter is just over a year out (gene tested and non inherited). I know that some women are going to be resistent, but many are not.Yes, the problem is getting to the two years and finding the right combination of meds to combat it, but many women DO make it.These women need hope, not fear in coming to the TN section; hope to get to that two years...not fear that they won't make it.Fear is enough to knock anyone down.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where is the cure???

www.truefacesofbreastcancer.org

I recall I read that article Cin56 mentioned which Gina posted. You can find that article in Gina's site. The article was from 07 and was again republished in October 08 BC Watch issue which Gorrila posted once and it is called " New Appreciation for TN".

It basically concours what Cindy 56 says that for TN, the risk of recurrence during first 3 years are higher than ER +  but if past 4 years, it drops and post 5 years the recurrence (mets) has drops to absolute zero which is unheard of for any other type of BC. So after 8 years no recurrence, one can consider herself cured. (We have some ladies on this board passed the 8 years, such as Gina herself, and Dandilion....)

It also says, TN responds better to chemos, even first generation chemo that are not used today than ER +. In fact, that article also quotes in one Italian study called Nora Study, they followed thousands of patients in 77 Italian BC centers on medien 27 months and found that contrary to other studies that TN patients do not have poorer prognosis than ER+. In the long run, if one like Cin 56 is 6.5 years out from TN, then her chance of distant recurrence drops to nearly zero, while if she were ER+, she could have recurrence risks whole life because ER+ cells grow slowly and may not respond well to chemo because chemo kills cells that are fast dividing.

So I don't agree with Floridalady that TN is generally not responding to chemo. It should say TN generally responds well to chemo than ER+ but there are some exceptions that do not respond to chemo.