Recurrence vs. Metastatic

shonda · 04-21-2010, 06:14 PM

I have metastatic disease I have been batteling for 4 yrs now.

I know what recurrence means, but my question is:

What is worse?

I am running out of chemo options at this point as I am on my 5th-6th line.
I did ask my onc last week-- since the mets have now gone to the liver, what happens if they can't be controlled (which I do know that answer), but she said to me that it is unrealistic to think I am going to live another 10 yrs. Not a canidate for surgery since there are 6 and in both lobes.

So lets say we pull them back and reach NED here.. If they showed up again later is that considered a recurrence or just still batteling mets all together.

It sounds to me someone with a recurrence has "more" options then some one who has been batteling with lines of chemo-- bone mets and then liver shows up while on taxol. My onc keeps telling me the cancer finds a way to wiggle around chemo and the more chemo you have the more resistant you become. I am Her2 positive and on herceptain for the last 4 yrs. There has even been mention of being resistant to that. WOW what does a person do when we have used chemo to keep bone mets stable and there is not much left for this organ?

Thanks
Shonda

pibikay · 06-24-2010, 07:32 AM

Hi shonda
I am myself a bit confused.My son tells me that with metastatic once itis cured it does not mean for ever and that there are chances of the cancer surfacing again,

my2boys · 06-25-2010, 04:23 PM

Dear Shonda,

Your onc doesn't seem to be giving you hope and hope is what you need right now. Please remember that your onc in not God, he/she is just a doctor.

Please do not give up hope. I am dealing with a recurrence, although a local one. I am on my second round of chemotherapy, A/C and Taxol with Herceptin and Tykerb. The TCH did not work for me. No one has said anything to me about chemo not working and cancer wiggling its way around it. Please don't listen to this. It is just a matter of finding the right treatment for yourself.

Have you considered Tykerb. It may just be that the herceptin isn't working as well as they had hoped. I know that in my case it only suppressed the cancer, but as soon as I was finished my year, it grew back in the exact same spot. My hope is that the Tykerb, combined with the Herceptin, will do the trick. I am thankful that there are these new types of drugs to treat HER2+.

I will pray for you and hope that you are surrounded by people who will encourage you and lift you up......and most importantly will give you HOPE. It is the mainstay and don't let go of it.

Hugs,
Anne

hutchibk · 06-26-2010, 09:39 PM

Shonda et al, recurrence that is in a distant place (in the torso, brain, an organ, etc), which is not strictly limited to a "local" location" such as breast tissue or an axillary lymph node is called metastasis, and is considered stage IV.

Now this does not at all mean that it is the end of the road. I have been stage IV metastatic for almost 6 years, my first recurrence was in the lungs... I am also what is called "heavily pretreated" meaning that I have had 8 different chemos and 3 different anti-estrogen drugs at this point (as well as 4 different radiation treatments to the brain, pituitary and the rear pelvic bone), and I still have it knocked back and very stable. We only see one small active spot on my adrenal gland at this time, and a small change in anti-estrogen treatment (from aromasin to tamoxifen) seems to be gaining us ground on that spot based on dropping tumor markers. I am also on a combination of Tykerb and Herceptin and have been for almost 2 years.

The key for us HER2 surthrivors is to know that there are a lot of new treatments in the pipeline in trials and the researchers are working feverishly to find us more options and potentially a cure. As my Onc always says, we still haven't scratched the surface of several treatments that we are keeping in our back pockets. I am healthy and living a normal life as a stage IV metastatic patient.

I suggest you look to San Antonio or MD Anderson in Houston for an Onc who is maybe more tapped into the HER2 advances and aware of upcoming trials.

Delaney · 06-27-2010, 03:04 AM

Brenda, your reply is jsut the BEST. Six years of treatments, well I could handle that too if it works as well for me. Am so glad to hear how well you are doing, have just started taxotere/herceptin. Really hoping this works for me but my oncologist said just the same as you, that there are lots more drugs and treatments to try until we find the right one. Without this site, I would be in such a low place. i read the replies and then look at the signature and think wow, what that person has been thru and yet they can take the trouble to reach out to someone else. Fantastic.