Faslodex and castor oil concerns
 

My mother has stage iv metastIc breast cancer. Her cancer is hormone positive and her2 positive. She has gone through aromatase inhibitor and she is currently taking tamoxifen. Whe tamoxifen stops working she may go on faslodex. But i'm concerned about the castor oil in it. Two years ago she did taxol, and she got a severe Allergic reaction to the castor oil in it. Is there a chance that she can get the faslodex? Is the intramuscolar route different than the iv route? Is there someone Who was allergic to taxol but managed to get faslodex anyway?

Thanks for your answers.

Re: Faslodex and castor oil concerns
 

It is not the castor oil but a castor oil ethoxylate in Taxol that makes one allergic so make sure Faslodex has castor oil ethoxylate. Castor Oil ethoxylate is a surfactant that makes oil and water mix into a homogenous solution. I know about it well because, believe it or not, I used to sell it to Bristol Myers back in the day. It is a common personal care emulsifier but it was super highly refined for Taxol and therefore quite expensive. I actually had troubles with Taxol because of it and told my onc, "I knew my company would kill me one way or another". He did not laugh but I did.

Re: Faslodex and castor oil concerns
 

thanks for the reply Becky,

you are right, the issue with taxol is the cremophor, and not the castor oil. I thought they were the same thing, instead they are not. I checked out, and faslodex contains castor oil, and not cremophor.

I'm less concerned now, thanks for clarifying.

Best regards

Re: Faslodex and castor oil concerns
 

I know nothing about the ingredients in faslodex but I can tell you a lot about being on it. It is a huge pain in the ass, literally. It is two huge injections of 5 ml each, one into each butt cheek. It hurts a lot, worse than any IV I have had. But it is fleeting and once the needle is out, it's not too bad. After a few months the butt does adjust and you get accustomed to having a higher level of inflammation in the muscle there, but things like jogging don't feel all that great at first. Best way to handle the soreness and inflammation is actually using the muscle and breaking up any scar tissue that may want to develop. The other thing that helps is heat packs right after injection. I was only on it for a few months before I progressed, and it actually took another 4 months for my butt tenderness to go back to normal. Don't get me wrong, it is a great drug, just want you to have all the info.
Kristin