Effectiveness (or lack of) of chemo...

lets be careful before convincing anyone not to do chemo based on this post. Of course it sucks, has SE short term and possibly long term, and is not fun. Also, sometimes it does not work. None of this is a secret, is it? Everything has risks, rewards, and potential outcomes.

bigmc, you do not post your dx, but arent you her-? It would be helpful to all if you would include your dx. It makes a difference. I am her+ and can tell you that seeing and feeling my tumors shrink after the first round of chemo was powerful. neither can even be detected by feel.

That being said, I nearly quit chemo due to the illness it caused. It is not for everyone. HOWEVER I feel great now, just 10 days after my last round. I am happy I did it, and regret nothing. I am a believer in science, and gave myself every opportunity to kill stray cancer cells. I made a big sacrifice in my temporary wellness to do it. These kinds of posts are insulting to others that have done the same, because we did not just skip into chemoland twirling our hair and giggling. We have google too and are not stupid. It takes alot of strength and courage to willingly submit yourself to it, believe me, and further to continue doing it when suffering SE. Right now, it is the only option

While natural living is fine, it does not necessarily prevent BC or cure it. This board is filled with women who lived extremely healthy lives and still get it. Chemo is not full proof, but neither is alternative medicine.

So...agree about SE, disagree about blanket mentality.

And here is a newly published study doing a careful comparison of patients treated 25 years ago vs 10 years ago. According to this study the patients treated more recently have half the recurrence risk, roughly, of those treated 25 years ago. The study notes, among other things, that chemo use was more wide-spread in the more recently treated group. In the earlier group 25% got chemo, whereas in the latter group just over 50% had some form of chemo. Also, in this study patients were carefully matched by stage, type etc, so the difference is not attributable to more DCIS DXs these days and the like.

http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/early/2014/11/20/JCO.2014.57.2461.short?rss=1

Bigmc, just wanted to tell you I LOVE your avatar. I get pretty happy when a new Liam neck-chopping movie gets released!

Also found this (2005):

"For middle-aged women with ER-positive disease (the commonest type of breast cancer), the breast cancer mortality rate throughout the next 15 years would be approximately halved by 6 months of anthracycline-based chemotherapy (with a combination such as FAC or FEC) followed by 5 years of adjuvant tamoxifen. For, if mortality reductions of 38% (age <50 years) and 20% (age 50—69 years) from such chemotherapy were followed by a further reduction of 31% from tamoxifen in the risks that remain, the final mortality reductions would be 57% and 45%, respectively (and, the trial results could well have been somewhat stronger if there had been full compliance with the allocated treatments). Overall survival would be comparably improved, since these treatments have relatively small effects on mortality from the aggregate of all other causes."

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)66544-0/fulltext

Study from 2012:

"These meta-analyses yield five main findings. First, standard CMF and standard 4AC were roughly equivalent: with either, 2-year recurrence rates were halved, recurrence rates during the next 8 years were reduced by one-third, and breast cancer mortality rates were reduced by 20—25%." http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(11)61625-5/fulltext

I've reached the conclusion that most people see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear. When I was diagnosed with bc, I had to get numerous tests over about six weeks time and kept wondering when treatment would start. My brother had chemo in the late 70's for testicular cancer. He was told he had about one year to live and he's still kicking around today. So I knew chemo worked, I had faith in it.

The chemo I had was taxotere and cytoxin. It shrunk the mass in the breast almost to nothing and I was able to have a lumpectomy and not have my boob(s) cut off. That was important to me. I am on Arimidex since then and had my most recent scans last week. Still stable and it's been just about four years since I found the lump(see my signature). The chemo was worth it to me and effective. I know my loved ones agree.

bigmc,

I think you may be misinterpreting the intent and use of the dx line. Not creepy or a competition about whose cancer is worse. Simply a way to help others who may be in a similar boat find or relate to each other. Since bc comes in so many varieties with so many tx possibilities, it's pretty useful. I personally, have never seen it used for anything else.

Definitely not a competition. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've drawn hope and inspiration from reading a post and glancing down at the signature line of the post. I also know some of my issues with her2 negative will be different from the her2 positive diagnoses and those with triple negative diagnoses. It helps to have the basc info, it is a form of identification, a type of shorthand. To the average person, the signature lines might look confusing and not mean much. But to us dealing with bc, it's nice to come to a place where others 'get' it.

bigmc - What's 'creepy' about some one simply posting their DX and TX? That's what is listed to allow others to know something about the person they are posting to or something about who posted to you or others. Also gives an idea to others where we are along our journey - days/weeks/months/years without continually having to give that info in every post.

We certainly do need better treatment. We shouldn't have to suffer with temporary and permanent side effects. I worry about the effectiveness of chemo and the potential of making the cancer worse by having drug resistance cells take over. I wonder about the effectiveness of AI's. I can see the comfort of shrinking tumors, I firmly believe if you are convinced your treatment is working it probably will work. The power of the mind should not be underes