Chemo for under age 35 - implications?

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Roots
Roots Member Posts: 19
edited March 2018 in Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After

I was speaking with my case coordinator just after I spoke with my dr today. She's the one who looks at my case, sends me to the needed follow up tests, schedules surgeon and oncology consults, etc.

I only got my results today. She said something that seems counter-intuitive to me, which is that since I am so young, usually the protocol is to have chemo as a treatment after surgery, even if the cancer is low grade. I would think younger = needing less intervention. Can anyone shed light on this? I was really hoping to avoid chemo if possible. Is that a pipe dream? Has anyone heard of this whole younger = chemo thing?


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  • Cpeachymom
    Cpeachymom Member Posts: 518
    edited March 2018

    Roots- sorry, the way my MO looked at it is younger= more time to recur = the longer we have to keep you alive. I ended up passing on chemo. Oncotype was 14, but my MO wouldn't even send the tumor for testing. It was Dana Farber for a second opinion who sent it out and recommended no chemo. Did you have the Oncotype done?

    Edited to add my MO STILL wanted to do chemo even with 14!

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  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 4,800
    edited March 2018

    Hello Roots,

    Alas as I understand it, the younger you are, the more serious the diagnosis is & the higher the risk of recurrence. If you are interested in all the numbers & details, your case coordinator should actually be able to give you a percentage survival for 5 and 10 years - both overall survival and disease free survival, and how they're affected by the treatments they're proposing.

    hugs,

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  • Rrobin0200
    Rrobin0200 Member Posts: 433
    edited March 2018

    I'm definitely no expert. But, I *think* it might have something to do with your hormone receptors. If you're triple positive or triple negative, then I believe that warrants chemo. But again, please don't take this to heart. It's just my undeeatamding

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  • Meow13
    Meow13 Member Posts: 4,859
    edited March 2018

    I would ask for as much testing as possible on your tumor. The more you know the more informed you can be on treatment.

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  • Roots
    Roots Member Posts: 19
    edited March 2018

    @CPeachymom what is an oncotype? and what's an MO? Sorry, i'm a newbie!

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  • Sjacobs146
    Sjacobs146 Member Posts: 770
    edited March 2018

    Roots,

    An Oncotype test is a test that is run on your tumor to determine whether chemo would be beneficial for you or not. They look at the genetic makeup of the tumor to come up with a score. An MO is a Medical Oncologist. This is a cancer doc that specializes in chemo and other medications to fight the cancer.

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  • RebzAmy
    RebzAmy Member Posts: 322
    edited March 2018

    Younger means that you get everything thrown as you as cancer can be more aggressive the younger you are. So, whilst a 50 year old may not have chemo with a similar diagnosis to you, being younger they'll give it to you. I had everything as I was also in my 30s when diagnosed. They chuck everything at you - belts & braces treatment

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  • amoran
    amoran Member Posts: 4
    edited March 2018

    Hey Roots-

    I'm 27 and my team has made the same plan for me. This is gonna blow. I'm an extreme rock climber and I'm getting married June 30th. Want to do this together? Feel free to private message me. Hope you're in high spirits today.

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  • buttonsmachine
    buttonsmachine Member Posts: 930
    edited March 2018

    Sometimes younger ladies have more aggressive cancer and they need to throw everything at it. That was certainly true in my experience - I was diagnosed young and mine is pretty aggressive. Definitely ask about getting an Oncotype test, and even the expanded panel of genetic testing. As others have said, more information can help you make better treatment decisions. No one wants to do chemo, and it's certainly not easy, but you might find it's not as bad as you are afraid it is. Best wishes to you.

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  • exercise_guru
    exercise_guru Member Posts: 716
    edited March 2018

    There is a small upside to being younger. If you get your muscle mass strong and maintain it during chemo you have far less muscle wasting. This helps on the recovery side. That about the only upside.


    amoran you will be ok just keep your upper body strength and hopefully you only need a lumpectomy. The problem I had was when I had an implant put under my pec muscle. I really lost my upper body strength.

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  • ToughCookie101
    ToughCookie101 Member Posts: 191
    edited March 2018

    I am 33 and was recently diagnosed. Had my mastectomy with expander placement Feb 1st.My MO wouldn't even order an Oncotype since he said the fact that I was young added more risk of recurrence no matter what the Oncotype said. I am highly ER and PR positive, but also grade 3. So can move quicker. I am tonstart chemo next week. Followed by hormone therapies. These are all tough choices and I still go back and forth if starting chemo is the right choice

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  • Meow13
    Meow13 Member Posts: 4,859
    edited March 2018

    Toughcookie, I would get a second opinion. Being grade 3 may be a good candidate for chemo but some oncos are not on board with hormone therapy. The very best to you.

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  • exercise_guru
    exercise_guru Member Posts: 716
    edited March 2018

    I think there was a new study out I remember seeing it last fall . Maybe it would show up on ou could google. I think that in women under 35 the benefit of Chemo was significant even in small early Breast tumors.

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  • ToughCookie101
    ToughCookie101 Member Posts: 191
    edited March 2018

    Thank you Meow. I live in Canada and getting a second opinion is near impossible without essentially firing my oncologist and starting from scratch. I have tried so many options. I was able to however get a second unofficial opinion through someone I know. I am 80-100% positive for both ER and PR so the hormone therapy is predicted to have a three fold effect on my cancer compared to chemo. There are so many choices.

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  • Tracyne
    Tracyne Member Posts: 65
    edited March 2018

    One question for you as you are deciding, will your MO’s chemo prescription prevent the type of cancer you have from re-occurring?

    Tracy

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