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Hi Dianne, taxol and it's cousins paclitaxel, and taxotere have been around for quite awhile. It's from the yew plant and for what it's worth it inhibits (cancer) cell replication and microtubule formation. Many of us have done AC(the big guns) followed by taxol and herceptin combined. Studies show T + H are very good together. I have also run across studies for other cancers that show taxol radiosensitizes tumor cells. Helps them die during radiation. Taxol will cause your lashes, brows and sundry head hairs to fall out. Quite a few experience pain in their extremeties.
I don't know the answer. You could do AC + TH or just TH or just H. Astrid's study looks interesting. As I said they are still trying to figure out exactly who these treatments work for.
It's so very hard to digest all this and make a decision. I know you don't have endless time to learn about and exhaust all options. Initially when I resisted chemo, I had 3 docs saying chemo was the way to go, I said Ok. 1-1/2 years later, I'm just beginning to understand.
So I can't say for your case. There's no right or wrong answer. Be open to what they tell you. We are all on the same side. You, are at this point, an open ended experiment, but I'm sure you want to select a course of treatment that gives you the best survival chances.
When you have time read the studies Lani has posted and Articles of Interest. Best of luck. It gets easier as time goes on. Bev
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