Herceptin - 79% disease-free after four years

Alice the cat.....I'm a 7 year survivor with 1 year of Herceptin...

Good Luck with your journey

Hugs

I have punched my stats into the Uk breast cancer Predict survival calculator. It puts my 5 yr survival % at 94% with surgery, chemo and Herceptin. I dont know how credible this tool is, so please take these stats with caution. Im not a statistician/oncologist etc but we have much to be hopeful about. The down side is illustrated in LouLou40's post: Her 2 women do have reoccurences both in the early high risk period and years out. I am 13 months out and feeling quite good.What I find difficult is the random nature of why some women are doing well and others develop secondaries. LouLou and Shelia:any lifestyle tips to share? I wonder if i am doing all I can but I am also not in the mindset of denying myself a piece of cake or a glass of wine (in moderation that is!)

Liz

Just wanted to add that it looks like the latest review of the BCIRG 006 study was in Oct 2009, so there is additional data for almost 3 years. Not sure when the next review will be.

@LouLou40: 

My understanding from my onc and studies is that 2-3 years is the window for greatest risk of recurrence for ER/PR- Her2+  breast cancer, just as it is for triple negative, and declines markedly afterward. However, for hormone positive, notably ER+ (since I know more about er+ than pr+), once the 2-3 year HER2 window is surpassed, the individual has the same risk of recurrence as any other hormone positive BC survivor. Hormone positive breast cancers, if they're going to recur, have a tendency to recur further out. It is not uncommon for hormone positive BCs to recur 8 years, 10 years, 13 years, etc., later. I believe, however, if my reading memory serves me right, that overall, across all BCs, hormone positive BC is less likely to recur than Her2 positive BC. From the recurrence patterns you described in your earlier post, I'm going to guess that most of those survivors were hormone + and Her2+, not Her2+ and hormone neg. That is not to say that hormone neg/Her2 + survivors cannot recur 5 years out, just more likely to when HER2 is accompanied by excess estrogen and/or progesterone receptors.    

Linda2222,

I can't speak to how treatable your situation is except to share my own experience. I'm stage 1, grade 3, er+/pr-/her2+, with no nodes affected. I had a lumpectomy, chemo (taxol and herceptin for 12 weeks, continuing herceptin for a year), and 33 radiation treatments. I'm four years out. Feeling well!

Please don't be discouraged by what you read. Read less, if that's the problem. Work with your doctor, consult with a nutritionist, find an exercise or yoga class, get acupuncture treatments. Take very good care of yourself. Before you know it treatment will be done and you'll have the rest of your life to live.

 Ann

I had breast cancer surgery nearly seven years ago.  I had four tumours in my left breast with only thankfully one lymph node affected (although they removed 15 which I wasn't too happy with as they said they'd take no more than four with their new procedure).  I went on to have chemo, radiotherapy, Herceptin and then four years of Tamoxifen (before I stopped when I realised that it had caused me to have Osteopenia). I am refusing to have mammograms, as I do not want my body exposed to any more radiation.  I underwent breast reconstruction nearly two years ago now (using the fat from my tummy).  It is the perfect shape, apart from the nipple, but I still need to get the tattooing done for the aeriola.  The scarring is still red though, but  I have heard of Recell, which is a new procedure being done in Birmingham by plastic surgeons where they take a postage sized piece of your skin, do something to it and then spray it onto the scar area, with amazing results.

Since my diagnosis I have been amazed at how little we are told about how a change of lifestyle and diet (which foods to eat and which to avoid) for the best outcome for cancer.  Why do some women, with the same diagnosis survive for many years and others succumb quite quickly after treatment?  The answer lies in what information these women research on what they can do for themselves.  After I read the book "Your Life in Your Hands" by Prof. Jane Plant and "The Plant Programme" (recipes to eat for cancer), it gave me new knowledge and hope.  

I went to a Naturapath who gave me huge doses of supplements and which foods to eat.  I flew through the treatment with no nausea or tiredness.  I found a website called Good Health Naturally, where I got Curcumin 4000, which got me through radiotherapy without any burning or soreness and which is meant to prevent / reverse any DNA damage done during this treatment. Just googling Curcumin + Cancer gives so many scientific reports on its ability also to fight malignant skin cancer.  Yet our oncologists are not allowed to inform us of any kind of natural treatments, even if they work, because the millions have not been spent on testing whether they work in scientific conditions.  Why would they invest millions this way if they cannot patent the natural product that creates the cure?  There are so many stories of people who have cured their own cancer when doctors have given up - just check out "phkillscancer.com".  Cancer thrives in an acid body and cannot survive in an alkaline body.  PH sticks can be bought only on line (Ph health).  These test how acidic your body is.  Strange one is unable to buy these over the counter.  Cancer also loves sugar, so one should be advised to avoid sugar and any food that turns to sugar, like fruit and carbs.  In a scientific study done many years ago, they were testing the supplement Co-enzyme 10 on a group of women with advanced breast cancer who refused to have mastectomies.  They were all given 200 mg daily.  After a few weeks they were tested and found that their tumours had stopped growing.  Two other ladies decided they were going to take 350 mg and 450 mg respectively every day instead.  Their tumours disappeared.  This study was quietly shelved.  

Kylie Minogue is said to have sworn that she felt drinking broccolli smoothies everyday during her treatment got her through it.  She was informed by "certain" people that if she continued saying this publically, she would lose her career.  A celebrity chef was also told that if he continued to say that certain foods could cure cancer, then he also would lose his "career".  Cancer is big business and is worth billions and certainly a lot of people would lose their careers if a total cure was found.  Kevin of Bobby's Health Shop in Devon, helped cure his three year old son of stage four neuroblastoma, when doctors had said there was nothing they could do.  He did it with the help of nutritional therapists, naturapaths, supplements and a change of diet etc., and persuaded the doctors to give him chemo every five days.  His son is now 10 years old and completely cured.  The doctors call it a fluke and refuse to follow the same protocol for other children in the same situation.  Kevin opened up his shop with all profits going towards helping other children in the same situation.

I used to give money to cancer research UK but am too cynical to continue as I feel they are more interested in profits than people's lives.  When one is on chemo, one should be taking mega doses of a reputable probiotic (at least 10 billion strength - one can get 35 billion strength, even better).  This helps replace the good bacteria vital for a strong immune system, which is being destroyed by the chemo, thus protecting the good cells whose DNA is likely to be damaged, allowing the cancer to come back more aggressively throughout the body in the future.  But doctors don't recommend any of this.

A man with terminal cancer was given a brocolli smoothie by his wife everyday (one whole head of broccolli, an apple and a carrot) juiced.  His oncologist was amazed when he showed no traces of the cancer.  The doctors informed Cancer Research UK who contacted the wife for the exact recipe.  But are we, the cancer patients, being informed of this possible cure?  No - no such luck.

It is said that ex-president Clinton takes 10 bitter apricot kernels every day to prevent cancer.  These kernels have a natural ingredient that kills cancer cells.  Organic flaxseed oil mixed with cottage cheese also produces an effect on cancer cells.

Jason Vale Juicemaster has a website and books on juices to help cure most ailments caused by lifestyle and diet and also does retreats.  The Earth Clinic also has some fantastic advice as does LiveStrong.

I have no fears of my cancer returning as I know far too much about what caused it (stress, lifestyle, lack of nutritional food, drink, lack of vitamin D through sunshine), and have made changes, taking a multivitamin every day along with CQ-10, Krill and Curcumin, to help keep any recurrance at bay.  Exercise is recommended because it helps the body to absorb more oxygen which is vital to keep cells healthy.

Sorry to go on - but hope just a little of the above information might come in useful for somebody some day.