MaggieD
10-01-2006, 08:43 PM
Hello Everyone,
I am new to this forum and appreciate many of you sharing your thoughts and experiences.
My sister had a recent breast cancer mets diagnosis and we have come through several crossroads recently. Her original cancer was in December 2002 at age 40 (mother of 4 kids, all under 10 at the time). She was diagnosed with DCIS, HER2 3+, ER-/PR-, Stage 1, no lymph node involvement. After mastectomy, she elected to have A/C chemo “just in case”. She did very well after that and even ran a marathon so obviously we all thought things were OK.
In Nov 2005, she was diagnosed with a breast cancer reoccurrence (sternum and some very tiny nodules in the lungs). She had a bone biopsy which confirmed breast cancer, however the sample was too small to reconfirm HER2. She received Herceptin and Navelbine weekly, and Zomeda monthly. In March 2006, there was a small lesion found in the liver which was believed to be missed in earlier scans; tumor markers continued down. Scans in May confirmed some progression in both the lungs and liver; tumor markers up slightly. She requested a brain scan (asymptomatic) and numerous small spots were found. She received whole brain radiation, followed by Herceptin and more chemo (a study-drug which had shown good response rates in similar cases including a friend of hers). Unfortunately, this chemo did not work very well for her. She was sick from it most of the summer. She is now on daily lapatinib, weekly Herceptin, and monthly Zomeda. She finally looks good and feels like her old self again. She has no symptoms from any of the above.
<O:p</O:p
She recently had some new scans to determine if this treatment is working; we have an appointment with her doctor on Tuesday. Even though I remain hopeful, I can’t help but feel like this whole thing has gotten away from us. I scheduled another appointment for her this month at a different medical center just to get a different perspective on things. At this point, I’m not sure what to ask about at either visit. We have asked so many questions before (even some of these), but this is what is on my mind now…
<O:p</O:p
- is there any hope to bring this under control? the liver mets seems to be of the most concern although remain asymptomatic….is targeted treatment possible given her situation? how has that worked out for others?
- should she have another biopsy to recheck HER2 status? could her HER2 cancer actually be under control and has a different type emerged?
- should we conclude that Herceptin is not working anymore? is there any way to improve her response to Herceptin (different dosage, etc)?
- can lapatinib be effective enough with Herceptin, or should this eventually be combined with a chemo like Xeloda (assuming lapatinib continues to be available to her)?
- if this treatment is not working, what next?
I have learned a lot by reading this forum, but certainly haven’t had a chance to look through everything. I would appreciate any insight or thoughts on approaching these appointments, things that we might want to check into, ideas on next steps, etc. Thanks for listening…
I am new to this forum and appreciate many of you sharing your thoughts and experiences.
My sister had a recent breast cancer mets diagnosis and we have come through several crossroads recently. Her original cancer was in December 2002 at age 40 (mother of 4 kids, all under 10 at the time). She was diagnosed with DCIS, HER2 3+, ER-/PR-, Stage 1, no lymph node involvement. After mastectomy, she elected to have A/C chemo “just in case”. She did very well after that and even ran a marathon so obviously we all thought things were OK.
In Nov 2005, she was diagnosed with a breast cancer reoccurrence (sternum and some very tiny nodules in the lungs). She had a bone biopsy which confirmed breast cancer, however the sample was too small to reconfirm HER2. She received Herceptin and Navelbine weekly, and Zomeda monthly. In March 2006, there was a small lesion found in the liver which was believed to be missed in earlier scans; tumor markers continued down. Scans in May confirmed some progression in both the lungs and liver; tumor markers up slightly. She requested a brain scan (asymptomatic) and numerous small spots were found. She received whole brain radiation, followed by Herceptin and more chemo (a study-drug which had shown good response rates in similar cases including a friend of hers). Unfortunately, this chemo did not work very well for her. She was sick from it most of the summer. She is now on daily lapatinib, weekly Herceptin, and monthly Zomeda. She finally looks good and feels like her old self again. She has no symptoms from any of the above.
<O:p</O:p
She recently had some new scans to determine if this treatment is working; we have an appointment with her doctor on Tuesday. Even though I remain hopeful, I can’t help but feel like this whole thing has gotten away from us. I scheduled another appointment for her this month at a different medical center just to get a different perspective on things. At this point, I’m not sure what to ask about at either visit. We have asked so many questions before (even some of these), but this is what is on my mind now…
<O:p</O:p
- is there any hope to bring this under control? the liver mets seems to be of the most concern although remain asymptomatic….is targeted treatment possible given her situation? how has that worked out for others?
- should she have another biopsy to recheck HER2 status? could her HER2 cancer actually be under control and has a different type emerged?
- should we conclude that Herceptin is not working anymore? is there any way to improve her response to Herceptin (different dosage, etc)?
- can lapatinib be effective enough with Herceptin, or should this eventually be combined with a chemo like Xeloda (assuming lapatinib continues to be available to her)?
- if this treatment is not working, what next?
I have learned a lot by reading this forum, but certainly haven’t had a chance to look through everything. I would appreciate any insight or thoughts on approaching these appointments, things that we might want to check into, ideas on next steps, etc. Thanks for listening…