BC and HIV/AIDS

As far as I know, there aren't any clinical trials underway involving people with HIV and bc.  Up until recently, people with HIV were excluded from cancer trials altogether.

Hi Numbly,  I'm really sorry to hear you're in the club!  It's definitely scary (and lonely) having these two diseases at once.

Have you gotten your pathology report yet -- do you know what kind of bc you have (IDC, ILC, DCIS, etc.), hormone status, the stage, grade, lymph node status?  You had a sentinel node biopsy, right?  Often that's done along with the lumpectomy.  What kind of breast cancer you have makes a big difference, of course.  It's likely that you won't even have to do chemo, in which case everything is a lot simpler.

If you do have to do chemo, you're "lucky" in that you're newly infected with HIV, so you have a wide range of HIV meds to choose from to minimize interactions and side effects.  It was much more difficult for me because I've been on many different HIV meds, and the virus I have has developed resistance to many, including a whole class I'd never even taken (bad luck).  So it was complicated to find HIV meds I could take while doing chemo.  (Turns out I had basically one choice.)

In fact, if your T-cells are high (and I'm sure they are, since you're so newly infected), it's likely your doctor will recommend holding off on starting your HIV meds until your cancer treatment ends.  That's something to consider.  In my case, my doctor suggested I stop HIV treatment during chemo -- but my situation is much different, I've been infected for a LONG time, I'm 55, and it just made me too nervous to do that.  But a lot of HIV+ people who get cancer do.  Do you have an HIV specialist?

I don't know your age, either ... of course that plays into the decisions you'll be making.

It sucks that you got HIV from acupuncture.  And it must be really painful to think about being the victim of such a gross error.  But the important thing now is to look forward, and think of all the positive things you can do to maintain your health.  I think you'll come through this experience with flying colors.  For me, it was much less uncomfortable and traumatic than I expected it to be.

You will get through this, and be back to your old life much sooner than you can imagine.  Of course, these diseases change us, and that will always be there.  But you're going to be OK.

Feel free to ask any questions, or message me ... I'm happy to help in any way I can.  I just passed my 17-year anniversary of testing positive, and 30 years of being infected ...!

Thank you, Athena!  I am glad you're making a nuisance out of yourself.  I posted in the other thread, and I hope the mods listen to us.

Awww, ljuliad, thank you for the kind words!  They are much appreciated.

You certainly have no shortages of challenges yourself!  I wish you many years of good health ahead.  Who knows what kind of progress they are going to be making in BC treatment.  When I was diagnosed with AIDS, it was an absolute death sentence.  I had a maximum of 8 years to live, if I was lucky.  A couple of months later, new drugs came out and here I am ... 17 years later.

So there is always hope!

Thank you, Rose!  I hope you are doing well!

The use of disabled HIV to treat cancer is exciting -- it actually made the news over a year ago.  I'm not sure why it's in the news again ... maybe they've made more progress on it.  

Anyway, here's a link to an article from 2011:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/health/13gene.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Happy, healthy New Year to you, too!