Another round of chemo after scans show progression??

Options
TrixieBoo
TrixieBoo Member Posts: 17
edited April 2020 in Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY

Hey everyone! I have a dilemma and am hoping y’all could help clarify this for me.

I started eribulin in late November 2019. My latest scan (from May 25th) showed progression in my liver mets.

My oncologist has decided to put me on Xoleda next. He also ordered a fancy blood test to validate that my liver mets are triple negative (my original BC was TN; my mets were declared TN after liver was biopsied. He told me today - after over 18 months metastatic - that sometimes liver biopsy staining may be inaccurate 🙄).

In the meantime he wants me to do one more round of eribulin. I’m not happy about it — after all I had progression on it — and I feel like I’m putting a toxic substance into my body with no valid benefit. I admit I was too shy to challenge him on this.

So my question is - is this a normal standard - to receive a ‘failed’ chemo while waiting on blood work to come in?

· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • ShetlandPony
    ShetlandPony Member Posts: 4,924
    edited April 2020

    Perhaps your onc thinks the eribulin may still be doing something for you, rather than nothing at all. That is why I favor staying on a treatment while waiting for a new one to be approved or decided. Your onc seems to think it is safe to wait for your test results. Is the blood test really for ER, PR, Her2? I did not know they could test that with blood. Or is it a liquid biopsy to look at circulating tumor DNA (Foundation One, Guardant, etc) to guide the choice of treatment?

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • TrixieBoo
    TrixieBoo Member Posts: 17
    edited April 2020

    We did Foundation One testing when I was diagnosed in August 2018 (revealed I had no markers for any immunotherapy).

    Like I said my original cancer was TN. I did have a tiny tumor in my chest wall that was weakly ER+ (I need to go back and check the percentage but it was low). When the cancer was found in my liver a biopsy was performed & they did testing on that sample which showed TN.

    Today at the lab the blood test kit had ‘CTC’ written on it. I think the company was Biotech??

    Now I’m even more confused lol


    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • ShetlandPony
    ShetlandPony Member Posts: 4,924
    edited April 2020

    Hmm. CTC=Circulating tumor cells...Ok, I found a company called Biocept that does both kinds of tests. The CTC test looks at protein expression. Maybe this is indeed a way to check on the subtype of breast cancer. I would like to say that doing genomic testing like Foundation One at treatment change is appropriate. Cancer cells can acquire a lot of mutations during two years of treatment.

    https://biocept.com/technology/

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • TrixieBoo
    TrixieBoo Member Posts: 17
    edited April 2020

    The company is Biocept and you’re right - it’s a liquid biopsy to guide treatment. I didn’t see anything about determining ER-PR-Her2.

    Not sure why he told me that - unless I completely misunderstood him.

    Either way - thanks for your input.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • pajim
    pajim Member Posts: 2,785
    edited April 2020

    Kelly I've done it both ways. I've taken a couple of weeks off just to "feel better" and I've also kept on with the "might help can't hurt". If eribulin was causing you lots of problems there's no reason you can't take a couple of weeks off.

    Usually all the delay is because it takes me a week to make up my mind what treatment to consent to. If MO feels we need to decide faster he says so.

    I suspect you'll find Xeloda easier to deal with. I start it again this evening (after a week off of alpelisib)

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • TrixieBoo
    TrixieBoo Member Posts: 17
    edited April 2020

    I had a breakdown on Thursday when I got a call to come in for more labs because my ANC was low (silly I know). I decided to forgo this last cycle of Eribulin. I need to heal a bit - physically & mentally. I also went to get my immune system back up so it’s quarantine life for me with lots of vegetables, fruit and lean protein and rest

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories