Taxol and Herceptin combo may have to be cut short

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findmewdw
findmewdw Member Posts: 20
edited April 2015 in HER2+ (Positive) Breast Cancer

My 72 year old mom has finished 7 out of 12 treatments of Taxol and Herceptin.  The taxol has hit her really hard the last week or two.  She has just about all side effects and is pretty weak.  Her dr isn't sure she will be able to finish the Taxol for 12 weeks.  She cried when the dr told her this, and I know she wants to finish them, but I'm concerned about how this is affecting her body, too.  I understand the treatment plan normally is 12 weeks and research studies show this has good results.  Anybody know about research for less amounts of Taxol?  How did 12 become the magic number?  Anybody else not finish the 12 cycles?

I tried to search threads about this but didn't have much luck.  I apologize if this has been discussed before.

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  • ElaineTherese
    ElaineTherese Member Posts: 3,328
    edited April 2015

    Hi!

    I finished all 12 of mine, but I do know that some ladies take a break until they feel like their bodies can handle more. Or, they take a break because their numbers are too low. Or, some women don't finish all of their planned infusions because the SEs have just been too much. I assume your Mom is HER2+ -- could she take that alone? I'm taking that alone now and I've tolerated it better than the Taxol/Herceptin combo. Best wishes to you and your Mom!

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  • findmewdw
    findmewdw Member Posts: 20
    edited April 2015

    Thank you for your response.  Yes, the dr says she will be able to continue Herceptin as long as the echo doesn't show any issues with her heart.  They will repeat that in a couple of months.  Yes, she was Her2+.  I thought her info showed at the bottom of my thread, not sure why it didn't?  It has in the past.  I will research that, tooSmile

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