Faslodex Girls

THANK YOU FASLODEX GIRLS!  I JUST GOT MY FIRST SHOT AFTER 11 MOS ON ARIMIDEX.

I READ THE POSTS ON FASLODEX, FOLLOWED ALL THE TIPS - WARMING IT UP, SHOT HIGH ON HIP

AND SHIFTED WEIGHT TO OPPOSITE HIP, ASKED HER TO GO SLOW. NO PAIN.  THANKS ALOT.

STAGE IV BREAST FIRST DIAGNOSED 3/12.  LJS

Had another round of shots today (round 4) along with Doxil and Xgeva.  Going to have a PET scan April 2nd to see how things are going.  I am feeling really well so I am expecting a good scan.  :-)  If things are improving then Doc will take me off of Doxil and give just Faslodex and Xgeva a try for a while.

Greetings, ladies! I just got my first loading dose yesterday...had to switch from Doxil after a bad MUGA. Have only read about 1/2 the threads here...wish I'd known about the warming up trick beforehand! I'll definitely remember that next time!



Seems like it will be a very tolerable regimen, but am a little worried about the 4-6 month time I've been reading that it takes to start working b/c I have a huge amount of tumor in my liver, and it's proven to be pretty aggressive so far. Hoping the liver doesn't get out of control before "the Faz" gets a chance to do its thing.



Any liver metsters on here have early success with this drug?

Eva, unfortunately surgery isn't an option for me...widespread, numerous tumors in both lobes. Made the mistake of looking at my PET scan...the whole dang thing is bright yellow!

Hello everyone!  I start Faslodex either this week or next week.  I'm planning to ask my onc, but does it absolutely HAVE to go into the butt?  I had a spinal fusion about a month ago and my butt is in seriously bad shape.

On the other hand, maybe I won't even notice the pain along with the rest.

I have read the tips and I appreciate them.  After reading all this though, I think I'll ask the doc if we can wait a month.  By then I should have healed up enough to tolerate the shots.

I did, marymoir. I started Faslodex in Dec. The pain had me worried because my previous treatment didn't do that. It has subsided yet I feel the same as you. Sometimes the pain is still a dull roar. I see that you were just diagnosed in Nov. w/stage IV. You may not have the optimal level of relief yet for your pain. Or you could be building up a tolerance to the Oxy. (I'm taking 30 mg OxyContin with Oxycodone for breakthrough.) I often start getting withdrawal symptoms after 6 hrs on the 12-hr dose. Are you seeing a pain management specialist? They can help make suggestions. I had my first follow up scan a couple weeks ago and I was stable (according to the radiologist report. There was teensy progression in some numbers which didn't seem to matter). I'm also getting Xgeva shots. I didn't get one this month to see if it helped the bone pain. Hard to tell sometimes what helps the hurt or what hurts the hurt.

I have been on faz and Femara combined since July. The days after my las treatment my stomach hurt so bad I took hydrocodone (left over from my oct hystorectomy) my mets are to my omentum. The next day I was fine. Told the onc and she said that is the process when tumor dies. She was very happy and the lymph node that had been large is pretty much gone too after that one treatment even though I have been on this treatment 8 month. Best of luck to you all !!

Susan, it was severe pain in the area of my mets, no nausea. I hope to use you as my roll model and be on faz for a looking time!

Ronda -- that's interesting about building up a tolerance to the oxy...i must say this is what made me hesitant to start down the opiod road in the first place (worried that if I built upna tolerance now, then they wouldn't work later if things got worse). My Dad (retired oncologist) told me not to worry about it and take the pain meds, and I will say they've kept me completely pain-free for about 3-4 months, so I'm grateful to have had that time without pain. Thanks for reminding me about pain mgt. specialist -- I had asked my onc for a referral the last time he upped my opioids, but he said they could manage my pain there. I think they do have a palliative care team within their practice that focuses on pain mgt issues...maybe I'll start there.

From the manufacturer's website:

"FASLODEX is a hormonal therapy that works by binding to estrogen receptors. In doing so, FASLODEX can block the effect estrogen has on the cancer cells. FASLODEX also causes the estrogen receptor to change shape and not work as well. In addition, FASLODEX causes a decrease in the number of estrogen receptors."

  It works the same way for the various places that the cancers shows up, as it works indirectly, by blocking the effect of estrogen on the cancer cells, inhibiting their growth.

 Faslodex has similar affects as an aromatase inhibitor, but with a different process of keeping the estrogen from the cells.

  I really like Faslodex. Now that I've discovered taking Benedryl before for the reaction and itching, I have no problems with it at all. And my tumor markers have fallen steadily.

 Scans this month. Hope I can stay on it!

Surgical Removal of Lung Metastases in Breast Cancer Patients May Improve Overall Survival

Newswise — Chicago — Patients with primary breast cancer that has spread to the lungs may live longer if the lung metastases are surgically removed, according to a study published in the April 2013 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

Georgios Meimarakis, MD, Hauke Winter, MD, PhD, and colleagues from Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany, examined factors that influenced the long-term survival of patients with isolated pulmonary metastases of primary breast cancer following surgical removal of the metastases (pulmonary metastasectomy).

Metastatic breast cancer (mBC) is a stage identified when the disease has spread to distant, non-adjacent organs or areas. The median survival of patients with mBC treated with conventional chemotherapeutic regimens ranges from 12 months to 24 months, and it previously had been assumed that these patients would not benefit from surgical intervention.

The researchers found that, with metastasectomy, the median overall survival increased to as much as 103.4 months.

“Before this study, no randomized trial had examined prospectively the impact of metastasectomy on survival compared to conservative therapeutic strategies,” said Dr. Meimarakis.

Between 1982 and 2007, 81 patients with a median age of 58.2 years (range 28.3 to 76.3 years) were recruited for the study.

In 81.5% of patients (66), complete removal of all tumors was observed, with microscopic examinations showing no remaining tumor cells (R0 resection). In 7.4% of patients (6), some tumors cells were still visible microscopically (R1 resection) and 11.1% of patients (9) showed portions of remaining tumors visible to the naked eye (R2 resection).

R0 resection was associated with significantly longer median overall survival than R1 or R2 resection (103.4 months, 23.6 months, and 20.2 months, respectively). Additional analysis revealed that R0 resection, and number and size of metastases were factors that affected long-term survival.

Dr. Meimarakis noted: “Too often patients with mBC are not considered for surgical treatment, as it is assumed that these patients would not benefit from surgical interventions for various reasons. Based on our findings we highly recommend surgeons consider patients with isolated pulmonary metastases for surgical resection.”

Cancer treatment teams need to consider metastasectomy
In an invited commentary appearing in the same issue, Hans Hoffmann, MD, from The University of Heidelberg in Germany, noted that this study adds meaningful data to the available body of evidence that breast cancer patients with a suspected first recurrence are most likely to gain substantial benefit from an intensified multidisciplinary therapeutic approach.

“As the morbidity and mortality of pulmonary resection has decreased substantially over the last decades, this potentially beneficial procedure should be discussed and considered more often than not in an intensified multidisciplinary therapeutic approach,” said Dr. Hoffmann.

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For a copy of the study and invited commentary, contact Cassie Brasseur at 312-202-5865 or cbrasseur@sts.org.

Founded in 1964, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is a not-for-profit organization representing more than 6,600 cardiothoracic surgeons, researchers, and allied health care professionals worldwide who are dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcomes for surgeries of the heart, lung, and esophagus, as well as other surgical procedures within the chest. The Society’s mission is to enhance the ability of cardiothoracic surgeons to provide the highest quality patient care through education, research and advocacy.

The Annals of Thoracic Surgery is the official journal of STS and the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association.

I have a questions, it's going to be a year in may the I have bone mets. As soon as I was diagnosed my onc put me on faslodex. Femara and zometa. Then I had a oophrectemy and my onc decided take me of faslodex and just leave me on femera and zometa, well it worked for a month than I progressed in November so my onc put me back o faslodex and I responed very well my tumor markings went from 964 to 364 the following month it went up a bit to 396 know this months it's 555. My onc still wants to leave me on it. He feels u should give it a chance. But I am scared and not sure if that is right. I trust my onc but I want to here from you women. I heard it takes sometime for faslodex to kick in I am technically on it since December.

That is great Florence!

To many more years of NED.

Love the song, Tish!  Have to remember that when I go next week!!