Anyone getting Abraxane?

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helenkilber
helenkilber Member Posts: 18
edited June 2014 in Stage I Breast Cancer

Hi all,

I asked this question over in the chemo forum and got no takers.  At the risk of bugging everyone (sorry) I'm going to ask one more time in this forum and then shut up :-)

I've seen several references to Abraxane + Avastin emerging as 'best practice' for adjuvant/neoadjuvant chemo for primary BC (see a snippet at end of this post), but no luck in pinning down study references or even which centers are putting their patients on this combo. Can you help?  

I'm on the AC part of a dose-dense AC-T regime.  My onc is open to using Abraxane instead of Taxol for the ‘T’ but is worried about increased neuropathy and wants to be sure that the benefits outweigh the risks.  Unfortunately, the data isn't there yet as the large scale clinical trials are still in process.  The key one is at Dana Farber (http://www.clinicaltrial.gov/ct2/show/NCT00308178?term=NCT00308178&rank=1) so it would be particularly good to hear from anyone being treated there.

But all of you ladies getting Abraxane (with or without Avastin) for non-metastatic BC, could you please share with us

-  What treatment plan are you on? Weekly Abraxane at 150mg seems the favored approach

-  Where are you being treated? (Somehow I think my  onc will be more into it if I tell him Memorial Sloan Kettering or Dana Farber etc are  on this path :-))

-  Are you on a clinical trial or not?  And, if not, was your insurance company willing to foot the bill?  Key question unfortunately since Abraxane is not ‘standard of care’ for non-metastatic BC

-  Let us know if you are aware of a study showing Abraxane to be more effective than Taxol for primary BC without metastases.

 Thank you so much for sharing your info.  I'll let you know what happens.  I'm also going for a second opinion at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and will share that info when I have it. 

 

Helen

 

Abraxane v Taxol (comment from TNBC forum)

“Hey, I just heard a talk on Abraxane vs Taxol, and Abraxane appears to be both more efficacious and with fewer side effects.  Abraxane consists of nanoparticles of albumin arranged in a sphere with taxol inside.  Because of the improved efficacy (weekly is best, at 150mg), Abraxane will probably become standard of care.  With Avastin it works even better, as chemotherapy causes cancer cells that don't die to overexpress VegF (proangiogenesis and creating resistance to chemo), and Avastin shuts down the VEGF circuitry. “

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  • REKoz
    REKoz Member Posts: 590
    edited February 2010

    Hi Helen-

    I am sorry you haven't gotten any responses to your post. I think that is because Abraxane is not the norm for us early stagers.Nor is it simple to get insurance approved at early stage because it is $$$ more then the other taxanes. That being said, I am pleased to "meet" you as an early stager who did have Abraxane (along with Carboplatin and Herceptin).

    Due to pre existing carpal tunnel and tendinitis issues, my Onc. was able to get it approved for me. I had the equivalent of 4 treatments on a schedule of weekly for 3 weeks with one week off in between. A HUGE advantage of Abraxane is not having to have the steroids with all the accompanying bone pain issues, "speedy" type of highs and then crashes. From everything I have read here, it was easy for me to find a grateful aspect about having to have chemo.

    I used the Carol Baldwin Breast Center which is in Stony Brook, Long Island. My Onc. used to have his practice there but then left for a local Hemotology/Oncology group which is where I saw him.

    Let me know if I can help you out in any other way. It is nice to see this being brought up for early stagers. Although I participated in the TCH thread here, I was the only one on this protocol.

    Best, Ellen

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  • Jisman
    Jisman Member Posts: 149
    edited February 2010

    I'm another early stager who had Abraxane - in 2008.  My onc decided to push for it with my insurance company after I had a severe allergic reaction to Taxotere.  Had been scheduled for Taxotere and Cytoxan every 3 weeks for 4 cycles; switched over to Abraxane for treatments 2 - 4.  Insurance shortly thereafter changed their policy to say if the chemo wasn't approved within the NCCN guidelines for the particular stage, they would no longer cover it. Definitely tolerated the Abraxane more than Taxotere - and certainly liked bypassing the steroids.

    Wishing you all the best.

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  • helenkilber
    helenkilber Member Posts: 18
    edited February 2010

    Many thanks Joan and Ellen!  I think you two are good examples of the classic reasons for getting Abraxane, i.e. side  effects from other taxanes.  Glad you were able to get it and it worked for you!  Did you have any problems with neuropathy?  My onc is worried about that.

     Overall, maybe I'm just ahead of the curve on this one. I'm interested because the rumbling seems to be that it has a bigger therapeutic effect than taxol or taxotere and being triple negative I want to get the biggest impact I possibly can out of chemo (since I can't do anything else pretty much).  And I must admit that avoiding al those steriods would be nice too :-).

     Will let everyone on the board know how this turns out.  I'll be interested to see what Seattle Cancer Care Alliance has to say as they've been in a lot of trials of Abraxane for early stage BC.

     Thanks again 

     Helen 

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  • Tabatha00
    Tabatha00 Member Posts: 133
    edited February 2010

    I had 12 weekly Abraxane treatments.   Abraxane was literally a walk in the park.   I had 4 A/C before the 12 Abraxane treatments.   When I was taking Abraxane the only side effects I had were being tired (duh it's chemo even if it is easier on our system).   My fingertips got very sensitive and the toes onmy left foot got numb.  

    Abraxane is so much easier on your system.  

    Tabatha 

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  • hopeful75
    hopeful75 Member Posts: 1
    edited February 2013

    I am a early stage with no metastatic issues Triple Negative Stage 1, Grade 3 who just completed a successful lumpectomy with no lymph node issues after 12 weeks of Abraxane /Carboplatin. My clinic did not get pre-approval before beginning treatment with Abraxane and is now trying to justify use of Abraxne after the fact to BCBS who are refusing to pay. I do have some other medical issues so am hopeful they are successful.



    My question to you and anyone else is did anyone who took Abraxane have pre-metastatic Triple Negative Breast Cancer and were you successful in getting BCBS to pay for it? If so what type of related medical conditions did you have?



    Any help on this would be appreciated.



    Thanks



    M

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  • sherry67
    sherry67 Member Posts: 556
    edited February 2013

    Hopeful75,

    I'm not TN but I did recieve abraxane and carbo with herceptin as part of a clinical trial and had no issues with BCBS..now tx on the other hand wasn't fun..good luck

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