To All My Stage III Friends

Thanks to you all for all the good wishes and encouragement!

I am now on day 22 of my clinical trial. I go back for my 3rd set of
Faslodex injections next Monday, pickup a new bottle of study pills, see
my onc and get bloodwork drawn. I should have my first set of 8 week
scans sometime early-mid June. So far the SE's have been very minimal.
A brief period of fatique/weakness after the second set of shots but
otherwise the treatment schedule has been very doable! I will
definitely post back here again with an update after getting my scan results. Life is keeping me busy as usual but I'm not complaining!  

Looks like it is time for an update from me to my wonderful Stage III friends! Again, I hope my updates here can be taken positively because I certainly do not want to add to your stress levels.

I am happy to report that after being on the Paloma 3 clinical trial for 8 months, I have had no new progressions, my mets are stable and reducing in size! I am so happy to have made it into this trial!

The treatment is based on 28 day cycles. Day 1 of each cycle I get Faslodex(Fulvestrant) injections into each buttock/hip and then receive a new bottle of the investigative oral drug which is either Palbociclib or a Placebo. 2/3 of the trial participants are getting the active Palbociclib. It is a double-blind trial so I can't know for certain that I am actually getting the Palbociclib, but whatever I am taking it seems to be working well!

The trial did baseline scans at the beginning of April, before I started their treatment protocol on April 14. The baseline scans are used as a comparison for all subsequent scans after starting treatment. It appears my mets are currently in the lymph nodes only, with some questionable small bone lesions in the lumbar spine and right pelvic bone. My baseline bone scan indicated no active bone mets, but the CT scans continue to note small areas of heightened enhancement which are stable.

For the purposes of the trial, the research MD selected my 3 largest abdominal lymph nodes to use for comparison. After 8 months on the treatment protocol, the short axis measurement of my 3 targeted lymph nodes has reduced a total of 63% in size since the April baseline. My largest lymph node which originally was 3.1 cm x 1.9 cm is now 1.3 cm x 0.5 cm in size. Multiple scattered nodes in my chest and neck area which were >1.0 cm are now all sub-pathological size < 1.0 cm.

I continue to have mild hydronephrosis of the kidneys which is stable, but it appears my soft tissue organs remain free of any signs of mets. The great news is that this treatment protocol has only minimally impacted my quality of life. Hair is a little thinner, fatique is present but mild, I have lost some weight due to GI issues but fortunately had extra to spare!

Right now I find myself looking at life in 8 week increments. I get CT scans of Neck/Chest/Abd/Pelvis with contrast every 8 weeks. I start to get a little anxious about 2 weeks before the next set of scans, but have been so grateful that my results continue to be good. This makes the period immediately following the scans one of renewed energy and positive attitude!

So it looks like my recent good scan results will make the holiday season much brighter and one to certainly be very thankful for!

Linda