xeloda/tykerb for early stagers?
 

hi everyone,
I, 36 year old, was diagnosed with stage 2B, ER/PR-, her2+ with 2/12 nodes positive in august 2009. I had 2 dose densed Ac, but was stopped due to heart side-effects . My chemo was switched to TCH, but only can complete 2 cycles before i developed interstitial pneumonia, ? drug induced lung toxicity. My pulmonologist advised not to reintroduced same drugs since my respiratory fuction test left me with 33% normal function. my oncologist started me for xeloda for 4 cycles and tykerb for 1 year. I know this combo drugs has been approved for stage 4 patients with promising results. Anybody on board has this combo but not stage 4 and what is the result of the effectiveness? I'm worried and sad that i cannot complete standard treatment especially herceptin. I know many women had good results with herceptin....i,m so worried that my cancer is under treated and afraid of recurrence...but what can I do if my lungs fail me....Thank you for responding.

Re: xeloda/tykerb for early stagers?
 

Hi Lovey,

I've never taken xeloda but did take Herceptin/Tykerb as part of a clinical trail for newly diagnosed women. I had my 5th TCH treatment last week-one more to go.

So sorry I could not answer your question about the xeloda but I'm sure someone will be able to share their experiences with you.

Take care of yourself.

Re: xeloda/tykerb for early stagers?
 

Dear lovey,

I was diagnosed in February '09 at 38 (see signature) with ER+/PR-/HER-2+ breast cancer, with a huge tumor showing on the MRI. I did 4 cycles of dose-dense AC, followed by 4 cycles of Taxotere, during which I took Tykerb daily. This was part of a clinical trial at Stanford. I then one cycle of Herceptin and had a bilateral mastectomy which showed that my 10x12 cm tumor disappeared completely. I had, however, small deposits of viable cells in about 11/13 nodes, with the largest focus being of 8 mm.

Because of the leftover cells after my mastectomy, my oncologist added Xeloda (albeit at a low dose) during radiation. I had no side effects from the Xeloda, but the Tykerb gave me a skin rash (like a sunburn on my face) and some diarrhea (mild). Both were very easy to tolerate.

Good luck and all the best to you!

Re: xeloda/tykerb for early stagers?
 

Thanks vlcarr and bejuce, at least I know I still have hope... It might work for me..