Should I take Xeloda? Please help!

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stephilosphy00
stephilosphy00 Member Posts: 386
edited September 2017 in Stage III Breast Cancer

I just completed 33 rounds of radiation last week. Today my oncologist had a discussion with me about taking xeloda for 6 cycles for hormone positive recedual cancer (I still had 1.8cm cancer and one positive at surgery after 16 rounds chemo). The xeloda actually will just give me 3% of 5 years' disease free survival benefit, according to that Japanese study, so I am not sure I should take it or not.

Any thoughts will be appreciated!


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  • stephilosphy00
    stephilosphy00 Member Posts: 386
    edited September 2017

    Bump! Hope more people can see my posts.



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  • ShetlandPony
    ShetlandPony Member Posts: 4,924
    edited September 2017

    Hi, steph. I'm not stage III, but I thought I would put in my two cent's worth rather than leave you waiting for a response. I guess the answer depends on understanding the risks and benefits well, which means making sure your onc answers all your questions. I think that even a 3% improvement in risk is worth it because I am the kind of person who wants no regrets that I didn't do what I could. The rationale makes sense to me -- use another kind of chemo to treat what the first chemo did not get completely, and do it now to prevent future problems. Six cycles of Xeloda would be 18 weeks (assuming 2 on, 1 off per cycle). There are many of us on the stage iv Xeloda thread who have done that and more and have done quite well. For most it is not a very difficult chemo. Seems pretty mild compared to the AC+T that you did. And the doc can adjust your schedule or dose if you get troublesome side effects (which I don't think they did in the early days of Xeloda). I'm on my 5th cycle and feel pretty good, still doing my thing.

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  • Husband11
    Husband11 Member Posts: 2,264
    edited September 2017

    Ask your oncologist for a statistical prediction on your odds of recurrance with and without adjuvent chemotherapy. You need to see what the odds are of recurrance, before factoring in the change that adjuvent chemotherapy will make.

    You might want to enter your data into cancermath and see what it predicts for chance of recurrance given your current treatments.

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  • Trishyla
    Trishyla Member Posts: 1,005
    edited September 2017

    Steph,

    Just a thought from a breast cancer patient and Mom. I'm currently on Xeloda, after having done ACT and having had a bilateral MX. The Xeloda is a piece of cake compared to the other chemos. If you were my daughter, I would tell you to do it. No hesitation. 3% may not sound like much, but over the course of a twenty nine year old's lifetime it's a lot. Hit it with everything you can.

    Good luck with whatever you decide.

    Trish

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  • Lillo57
    Lillo57 Member Posts: 16
    edited September 2017

    Steph,

    I too was briefly on the fence when offered xeloda as a follow-up treatment. After much consideration on my part and input from friends and family, it became clear to me that I should at least try it. If it gets too difficult, you can always lower your dose or stop. I completed 6 mos, one week off & one week on, and the SEs were manageable. Just be prepared with treatments to counter them. I agree with Trish, you are a young girl, and you need to throw everything you can at this thing

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  • stephilosphy00
    stephilosphy00 Member Posts: 386
    edited September 2017

    Thank you so much for all your replies. I decide to do xeloda to maximize my chance to win this battle!

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  • Racy
    Racy Member Posts: 2,651
    edited September 2017

    I have never heard of this chemo being used as additional adjuvent therapy for early stage bc. Is this a new protocol?

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  • stephilosphy00
    stephilosphy00 Member Posts: 386
    edited September 2017

    Yes, the study about using Xeloda in early stage breast cancer just came out in June.

    http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1612645?rss=searchAndBrowse&

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  • Trishyla
    Trishyla Member Posts: 1,005
    edited September 2017

    Glad to hear you've decided on the Xeloda, Steph. Hit it hard and hope for the best.

    I'm on my second cycle, doing okay, and I'm ancient (compared to you) As young as you are, you should breeze through it.

    Good luck!

    Trish

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