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-   -   hope in new techniques. (https://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=46569)

Jean 09-01-2010 10:09 AM

hope in new techniques.
 
http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/f...ancer-patients

Jackie07 09-02-2010 01:11 PM

Re: hope in new techniques.
 
Nice article, Jean.

Delaney 09-03-2010 05:08 AM

Re: hope in new techniques.
 
Am I reading it right? I have a 16% chance of being alive in five years with Herceptin? Thats just DISMAL!

Jackie07 09-03-2010 02:02 PM

Re: hope in new techniques.
 
Delaney,

You were diagnosed in 2008 as a stage II - so the survival rate you are looking at should be the statistic for Stage II, not a stage IV even though now you've got mets.

Several of our members - especially the newly diagnosed - have got their mets treated successfully with either vaccine trials or other new types of treatment. Statistics don't tell the whole story. Most information we get 'on the Web' can be misleading - even when it is from a trusted source because our understanding of the disease is not as complete as the trained specialists.

I remember my distraught when my recurrence was confirmed. There are people who claim that whenever there's recurrence, it's automatically a Stage IV. My oncologist was out of town attending medical conference and my husband got another oncologist to explain to me that it was called a local-regional recurrence and would be treated as if it were found the first time.

There's a brochure on breast cancer you can request from the American Cancer Society which details (with a chart) http://www.cancer.org/index how each stage is defined and treated. There are subcategories within each stage. And remember the statistic covers all patients - some may have other chronical illnesses, some may have other condition that lowers their odds.

I always find the 'long-time survivor' and 'long-term survivor' threads inspiring.

And there's T-DM1 which is a very promising treament method, we hope it will be approved soon.

Think positively - postive thinking increases the release of endorphin which helps improve our immune system...

Jackie07 09-03-2010 02:43 PM

Re: hope in new techniques.
 
Here's the information from the ACS site about staging:

http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/Unde...gnosis/staging

A cancer's stage does not change

An important point some people have trouble understanding is that the stage of a cancer does not change over time, even if the cancer progresses. A cancer that comes back or spreads is still referred to by the stage it was given when it was first found and diagnosed, only information about the current extent of the cancer is added.

For example, if a woman were first diagnosed with stage II breast cancer and after the cancer went away with treatment it came back with spread to the bones, the cancer is still a stage II breast cancer, only with recurrent disease in the bones. If the breast cancer did not respond to treatment and spread to the bones it is called a stage II breast cancer with metastasis in the bones. In either case, the original stage does not change and it is not called a stage IV breast cancer. A stage IV breast cancer refers to a cancer that has already spread to a distant part of the body when it is first diagnosed. A person keeps the same diagnosis stage, but more information is added to the diagnosis to explain the current disease status.

This is important to understand because survival statistics and information on treatment by stage for specific cancer types refer to the stage when the cancer was first diagnosed. The survival statistics related to stage II breast cancer that has recurred in the bones may not be the same as the survival statistics for stage IV breast cancer.

At some point you may hear the term "restaging."Restaging is the term sometimes given fordoing tests to find the extent of the cancer after treatment. It may be done to measure the cancer's response to treatment or to assess cancer that has come back (recurred) and will need more treatment. Often this involves the same tests that were done when the cancer was first diagnosed: exams, imaging tests, biopsies, and possibly surgery to restage the cancer. Rarely, after these tests a new stage will be assigned, written with a lower-case "r" before the new stage to note that it is different from the stage at diagnosis. The original stage at diagnosis always stays the same. While testing to see the extent of cancer is common during and after treatment, actually assigning a new stage is rarely done, although it is more common in clinical trials.

Delaney 09-04-2010 09:17 AM

Re: hope in new techniques.
 
Jackie,
thanks for that, its interesting reading. My Oncologist actually asked me if I fully understood that I was now Stage iv incurable. But he did soften the blow by telling me there are lots of treatment options still available to me. Maybe they just phrase it differently here in Ireland. Right nowI am taking the lead from the people on this website and am not going to obsess about prognosis, but will just take all steps to improve my situation. Really appreciate your response, you've lifted my mood.

Jean 09-04-2010 10:46 AM

Re: hope in new techniques.
 
Jackie as always thank you for adding on to the thread great information on staging!

Delaney, the take away thought here is the advancement that is happening in this battle. With things like vaccines, combination therapies, and other promising possibilities, we're starting to look beyond standard chemotherapy and into novel agents to attack advanced breast cancer," We have more treatment obtions, and for the early stage patient the information is still not in. The future is looking better for us especially these past few years. As much as none of us want to have drugs in our bodies and as much as we know as of present date (that herceptin does not work for all) we are coming closer to finding out why and research is finding other treatments.

example....new breakthrough

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/199983.php

Best wishes,
Jean


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