Chemo delay

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markiev
markiev Member Posts: 3
edited June 2014 in DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)

Hello, I am on the other side of the Atlantic but think over there you may be a little ahead. I have had a wound infection at the site of my sentiel node biopsy which has now cleared but I am still oozing and having daily dressings. I had my surgery 6 weeks ago tommorrow. I saw a city oncologist initially who recommended I have 4 rounds of chemo locally.Today was my first visit to the local oncologist. I was all set up to ask him intelligent questions when he said that due to the substantial cavity I still have that I may take longer to heal and that I might miss the window for chemo that he feels closes at 10 weeks. I was shocked as i had  no idea that this window existed and my surgeon who i travelled three hours to see last Thursday said nothing about it. He now wants to start me on Tamoxifen straight away which I thought was coming further down the line. No Oncotype dx available here to me so that cant be included in decision. He said if I go passed the 10 weeks he can still give me chemo, but there is no evidence to back up this treatment after the post surgical interval and when I asked if it were a member of his family he said he wouldnt have chemo after 10 weeks. I am so frustrated. I feel I am powerless in the face of this wound problem and my very newly learned one day at a time strategy is going out the window....

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  • dlb823
    dlb823 Member Posts: 9,430
    edited August 2013

    Hi, there ~ I had a similar situation -- an open wound that delayed starting chemo.  But my oncologist @ UCLA quoted research that showed no difference in outcome for women who started chemo 1, 2 or 3 months from the date of their last surgery.  At the time (2008), there was no data beyond 3 mos., and I haven't seen any since then.  So I think you're fine up to 12 weeks, and that it's just maybe unknown after that. 

    I'll try to find that research and add a link here if I do.    Deanna

    Here's one study:  http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v93/n6/abs/6602734a.html

    Here's another one that was done with older patients:  http://www.springerlink.com/content/m168pr723l57l613/

    Here's another one that showed no difference in DFS, but did show a difference in OS, which I'm not sure I'm immediately grasping, but will post it anyway:  http://www.springerlink.com/content/h27hh3h323268547/

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  • markiev
    markiev Member Posts: 3
    edited September 2010

    Hi Deanna, thanks for that. Had a quick look around myself and it would appear 12 weeks would seem to be the outer limit researched. Any tips on how you got to heal up would be appreciated also. have the usual suspects under control ie diet etc

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  • cary1
    cary1 Member Posts: 372
    edited August 2013

    I was very nervous because my second surgery (re-excision) was in May and my chemo didn't start until mid-July, so I definitely understand your worry. I am taking the above posts as reassurances for both of us! My circumstances were different. First I had to wait for healing, but the main hold up was I was supposed to get an oncotype score to help decide about chemo and there were major problems. I would really like to learn more about the science behind the window idea. It is very confusing. What relationship does it have to the final surgery given that the occasion for diagnosis is so variable?

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