Tnbc stage 3C

LadyF, I don't know enough to tell you much. I do want to say how sorry I am that you are facing this, and also that it's taken so long to get a diagnosis and treatment plan. It is common to have chemo prior to surgery for larger tumors. The chemo has a very good chance of reducing the tumor size, to make surgery easier and more effective.

Paclitaxel is also known as taxol. You can find out more about both paclitaxel and avastin on the Chemocare website. http://www.chemocare.com/default.aspx

Wishing you all the best.

You might want to ask your team about carboplatin, which is effective against basal-like TNBC. My MO gave me that and taxotere on the theory my TNBC was behaving basal-like. Those two chemo drugs more typically are given to HER 2+ people along with their Her2 meds.

Also, you might want to have your biopsy sample re-tested for Androgen receptor positivity.... which opens up other possibilities for treatment (like Xtandi). Also maybe get a Foundation One test, which may identify other mutations that are actionable. PDL1 mutation opens immunotherapies.

Hit it hard with everything. The silver lining of a high grade cancer is that it can be very vulnerable to chemo.

If you have palpable lumps, I also suggest you use HEAT on them. Very low tech, but also very effective. High heat causes cancer cells to weaken and to give off "heat shock proteins" which make them more identifiable to the immune system. My lump was easy to feel and my axillary lymph nodes were too. I read about hyperthermia and stumbled onto an article about how Vets use it to shrink tumors in animals when they will be hard to surgically remove, and they use an external system of recirculating hot water. I thought, "hey, I can do that!"

You want to get the tissue to about 108 for an hour +. Healthy cells will not be permanently damaged, but cancer cells will suffer major damage. I did this 3-4 x week during chemo.... I used a VERY-hot hot water bottle, kept the heat on there about 60-90 mins per session. Also did heat DURING chemo drip and afterwards, to bring the chemo-laced blood to that region. I got minor burns (magenta skin) that faded over a month or two after I stopped chemo. Heat will weaken that cancer! I spoke to a Hyperthermia expert a UMD and told him what I had done and he thought it was likely to have helped me a great deal.

I love a105 degree hot tub (very hot) so I had a sense of how hot 108 must be (Yowch!). Infrared sauna can also heat tissues.

Ask for metformin from your doc! Also consider 20mg melatonin at night (work up to this dose). Consider the help of a naturopathic doc who can give you advice on many other complimentary things.

Good luck and hang in there. There are many of us here who had lymph nodes and beat it back. I wish you all the best!!!!!!

santabarbarian - I’m sure you’ve posted about heat before, but this is the first I’ve read about it. So interesting. Just curious, what did your cancer team think of this? They tend to not like anything out of the wheelhouse