Choice Between AC-T & TC

Dear Ballarinashavefins,

Welcome to the BCO community. We are sorry for your diagnosis and treatment and we are very glad that you have reached out to our members to share your experiences and hopefully to benefit from the support that is readily available here. While you are waiting for some of our members to weigh in in response to your question you might also do a search using the search function in the tool bar using the names of your drugs. Be sure to use quotes if you are using more than one word. Such a search will lead you to other posts and other members who are following those treatments. You can reach out to them via private message which is another feature that allows members to connect with others with specified questions. Here is a link to information on our main site that discusses choosing a drug combination. Keep us posted as to how we can continue to support you here. We look forward to having you.

The Mods

With 2 positive nodes you still qualify for an Oncotype if you want to get a recurrence risk assessed based on genomics of the tumor. https://www.oncotypeiq.com/en-US/breast-cancer/hea...

I was supposed to get TC and then when my Oncotype came back indicating I was triple negative, my MO changed her recommendation to AC+T. I understand AC+T to be a more aggressive chemo regimen. While there is a risk of cardiac problems, they're by no means ubiquitous. I was back to doing zumba several times a week and running after my dogs, and back to school full time within a couple months of finishing chemo for stage 1 cancer. I had no heart problems and still don't (just had a repeat echo in March in prep for treatment of my recurrence). My own personal sense is that the younger you are the better it is to hit it as hard as you can. Grade 3 also suggests a certain aggressiveness which I think warrants a strong approach.

(edited because I'm super wired from steroids and made a very large mistake in my post ...)

I had 2 nodes with cancer and a large tumor. My oncotype came back (3 years ago) at 18 so we decided on TC. It is a very doable treatment and I’m glad that was the route I took. Best of luck with your decision and treatment.

I could have done either TC or AC + Taxol, but my oncologist said that (in her experience) her BC patients were more likely to finish AC + T than TC. Because I did AC + Taxol (+ Herceptin + Perjeta), my oncologist ordered regular heart scans. If they had detected any problems with my heart, she would have stopped treatment. (As she likes to say, "You only have one heart.")

AC was not a picnic. I definitely had chemo brain while on it, though I worked through it. I did not have chemo brain on Taxol (Taxotere's gentler cousin) but taxol chemos are known for causing gastrointestinal distress (diarrhea, constipation, heartburn, nausea, etc.). Personally, it gave me diarrhea (which I treated with Imodium). Taxotere is also associated with a very very very very small chance of permanent hair loss. On the other hand, if you want to preserve your hair through cold capping, cold capping works better for BC patients who receive Taxotere or Taxol, and doesn't work as well for those receiving AC.

Each regimen has its pros and cons. My neighbor did TC, and it worsened her heart condition. (Thank goodness, she didn't do AC.) AC has had no long-term effects on me.