What type of chemo treatment would be common with this?

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MelanieBC
MelanieBC Member Posts: 74
edited October 2015 in Stage III Breast Cancer

So we got the pathology report from my moms tumours.

-3 tumours, the largest was 3.1 cm

-Grade 3

-mix of IDC and ILC

-33 lymph nodes removed, 22 were cancerous.

-ER/PR +

-HER2-

-We know she is having 6 months of Chemo (1 treatment every 3 weeks), then 1 month of Tamoxifan, then 1 month of rads.

Was anyone in a similar situation and what combination of drugs was used for Chemo?

Does anyone else feel like they could honestly be an oncologist after going through this? Knowledge is power and it is good to be informed but scary at the same time. I never thought I would need to be informed about BC.

Thanks!

Mel

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  • muska
    muska Member Posts: 1,195
    edited September 2015


    Hi Melanie, I am sorry your mom is in this situation and you are a great daughter. You are raising good questions, however I think you should address them to your Mom's oncologist. Oncologists take a lot of things into consideration when selecting a chemo regimen for a patient, inluding surgical pathology report, imaging studies, overall health condition, chronic diseases, family history, age, genetic testing, etc. I think you need to talk to your Mom's oncologist if you have questions or doubs about the recommended chemo regimen.

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  • MelanieBC
    MelanieBC Member Posts: 74
    edited September 2015

    Thank you Muska! She just got her medical oncologist appointment scheduled today for October 6. I hope to be able to make it to the appointment so I can help her understand some of this stuff.

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  • wrmbrownie
    wrmbrownie Member Posts: 114
    edited September 2015

    I would look at the bottom of profiles of others on here to see what they had with which type of cancer. I had 6 months of chemo too. Half was A/C(once every 3 wks) and then I had Taxol once a week for 12 wks. Luckily I wasn't her2+ because their chem lasts a year or more.

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  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 7,859
    edited September 2015

    The learning curve is really steep, I hear you.

    The only thing that sounds "new" to me is the month of tamox before rads, but on the other hand, they did give me 3 weeks "rest" between chemo and rads, so that may be what they mean really.

    My chemo was 4 rounds (spaced 3 weeks apart) of FEC and then 4 rounds of taxotere. I think that is pretty standard for hardcore chemo in BC cases. I had 35 Gy of rads, then had my ovaries removed and started femara.

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  • MelanieBC
    MelanieBC Member Posts: 74
    edited September 2015

    Thankis Momine. I think we heard wrong about the tamox before rads. She met with the RO today and she will have rads for 25 days, for 5 weeks (no weekends). SHe will meet the MO next week to find out chemo. The surgeon had said 6 months of treatments every 3 weeks BUT the RO today said that the surgeon isn't a oncologist so it is best to wait and find out what cocktail the MO decides to go with.

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  • Kicks
    Kicks Member Posts: 4,131
    edited September 2015

    Surgeons do not make the decisions on what Chemo or Rads might be needed or appropriate for the individual. Very basically it comes down to - surgeons do surgery/cut, Medical Oncologist/MO (Chemo Dr) do Chemo, Radiocologic Oncologist/RO (Rads Dr) do radiation. They are each specialist in their field.

    It is becoming much more common for neoadjuvant (pre-surgery) to get better results with surgery. - it is imperative with some. There are many different potential Chemo to be used and different time frames. Some can be done weekly, every 2 weeks or every 3 weeks and for varying lengths of time. Our overall health can also come into play with the choice of chemos.

    In my case, I did 4 DD A/C ( Dense Dose Adriamycin/Cytoxan every 2 weeks) neoadjuvant. 2weeks after last A/C, I had surgery (UMX) and 3 weeks later started 12 weekly Taxol. A week after last Taxol started 25 rads. A week after starting rads, I started Femara. Others have had different TX (treatment) plans as we are each unique.

    It is a good idea to take your smart phone (or a tape recorder) and record what the Dr says in the appt. so it can be reviewed later if there is confusion or question ns as to what was actually said.

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  • MelanieBC
    MelanieBC Member Posts: 74
    edited October 2015

    Thanks for the responses, Mom and I met with her MO today and she will have FEC-T (I think I am saying this right), 6 rounds, once every 3 weeks, starting October 26, 2015.

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