Residual disease and treatment

How large was your residual?

My path report did not include RCB score nor info like cellularity to calculate it myself. All I know is it was 7mm and tissue banking (research) didn't want it because it was a lack of definitive mass. MO said my stage now is ypT1b.

I am on Xeloda now. MO initially said 6 rounds but I am going to push for 8. Then that's all my treatment. I have even looked into clinical trials and the ones I have seen require residual to be 1 cm or more and/or positive lymph nodes. Even Xeloda is new for early stage, so I assume 2 years ago I would have been done with treatment as well.

Even my friends who got a PCR struggle a bit, it's jumping off a cliff at this point hoping you will survive.

I still wonder if taking vitamin d, metformin, or anything else can help me. Besides losing weight and exercising.

I mentioned Xeloda to MO when I was in IV chemo before surgery. He said if I had any residual then I would go on it. I am going to ask my MO when I go in next week about cellularity (and RCB) but I have the actual path report and its not on there. So maybe the lab they use doesn't test for it?

I had a BMX. 6 nodes taken. Never looked like there was ever any cancer in them. No vascular invasion. Not doing rads, as RO does not recommend for me.

I never smoked, I could count the number of drinks I have had in the last 8 years, on one hand. All before dx. I have been overweight into the obese range of BMI around 31-32 for 12 years now. I lost weight on AC but gained it back on Taxol. I have to baby my feet on Xeloda. Yesterday they became tender to walk around my house (side effect). So I have decided to start Weight Watchers to clean up and control my calorie intake.

I’m in the gray area too. I’m very grateful that I got a good outcome but still stressed that I didn’t get pcr. I actually got two 2nd opinions and both said I could do Xeloda If i insist, but they didn’t see a clear benefit for me. My cellularity was very low. One of the dr’s pointed out that many patients find moving on unnerving regardless of outcome. I would jump on a clinical trial but so far none are good fits for me. With your residual you will probably have same issue but there are a couple that use b/w versus residual as their criteria.

Good luck!

Waytooanxious, Did your MO give you a disease free survival percentage? I have never asked, we have never talked about it. But today he mentioned it.

Mine today told me 73% with the 10% Xeloda boost. I thought that was crazy low compared to various article's I have read. I have mainly seen numbers in the mid to upper 80's without Xeolda mentioned. It really was a kick in the gut!

I know the rational side of me says it's just numbers and nothing I can do to control it. And as the TNBC foundation says, the majority of TNBC's survive and never have a recurrence (so 50+%). It's just so hard to hear.