Stage 3 invasive ductal breast cancer and her2+

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Stage3
Stage3 Member Posts: 10
edited July 2015 in IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)

I have stage 3 invasive ducctal breast cancer. Plus her2+. Did 4 rounds a/c now on 12 weeks taxol with herceptin and prejeta. I get my 6 th round of taxol with gercceptin and prejeta on Monday. Having hard time with low neutrophils and worried about infection. Doctor has done no scans just breast exams after a/c treatment and said felt chemo was responding. I am concerned shouldn't I be getting tests scans complete blood tests to see what's going on. I am at a top hospital I believe and don't understand why I am only getting a cbc. Before chemo. Any one hav any suggestions

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  • GraceB1
    GraceB1 Member Posts: 213
    edited June 2015

    In my experience DRs don't order many scans. You MAY get one before surgery or after all treatments are done. It exposes you to more radiation which is not good. I asked for one before my DIEP surgery as I didn't want to wake up and find out that they found more cancer and had to cancel the surgery. Now that I'm only on AIs for therapy I see my MO quarterly and CBCs once a year. Mamos and bone denisity once a year. Both my MOs say that blood tumor marking tests are not reliable. Any infection or upset in your body can elevate the markers and lead to unnecessary and expensive testing and a lot of stress. Otherwise no scanning unless I have symptoms. I had to get neulasta shots while on taxotere as my white cell count bottomed out. I did have blood work every time before my chemo and herceptin treatments. It sounds like your treatment plan is the standard for care right now.

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited June 2015

    Any tests I had were done before tx started, except DEXA. now only cbcand tumor markers quarterly.

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  • Mommato3
    Mommato3 Member Posts: 633
    edited June 2015

    I think with stage 3 it's common to get a scan prior to chemo but not necessarilyduring or after. Your surgery will tell you what the response to chemo was. I had the same chemo treatments you are getting. My WBC count struggled after the third weekly Taxol/Herceptin/Perjeta treatment so they made me come in the day before treatment to get a Neupogen shot. That brought my counts up high enough for treatment. I wasn't sick (colds/flu, etc) the whole time I went through treatment...even with three kiddos.

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  • Italychick
    Italychick Member Posts: 2,343
    edited June 2015

    I got a bone scan, pet scan, and MRI before chemo, and my MO said she will probably scan me again a few months post chemo. As for the radiation, doesn't make sense to me. They hand out 33 radiation treatments, but won't do a pet scan? Doesn't that seem contradictory

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

    I got an MRI and PET scan before chemo and then an MRI and PET scan after chemo. The second set of scans showed that chemo had wiped out all of the active cancer. In between the sets of scans, my MO just used a ruler (ah, old-fashioned technology) to measure my lump. It did indeed shrink, according to the ruler.

    Scans are very expensive; MOs only use them when they think insurance will cover them. You'll probably get another MRI after chemo.

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  • rhp268
    rhp268 Member Posts: 24
    edited July 2015

    I am on the same treatment plan under the care of a top hospital in NY. I am concerned about the same things... Standard of care seems to not include regular testing unless you're symptomatic. It seems kind of ridiculous. But insurance companies are incented to pay for as little as possible and oncologists won't prescribe scans/additional testing that insurance companies won't cover.

    The solution I've come up with is that I plan to pay out of pocket for MRIs and PET CTs following treatment. If they won't do it, I'll find my own way to catch any metastasis early.

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  • Stage3
    Stage3 Member Posts: 10
    edited July 2015

    I am alson in top New York hospital. This must be what they do now. Which also concerns me. I just had MRI to see wher I was with taxol before surgery and the found a very small mass in opposite breast now. I just did a biopsy and waiting for results. I should of insisted on surgery like I had wanted too. I allowed myself to be controlled because they are suppose to be the best. Now I find myself in a worse position. The old methods still work and many get surgery first. Which makes more sense to me. Leaving cancer in our body while u try to kill it with chemo takes time and who is to say u will kill it all. So what does the cancer do while u are on neoadjunct chem? It can continue to spread so I don't get this plan at all

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