Treatment over age 70

[lauriejean]

Hi, I'm new here and wondering if anyone has any information on treatment for women over 70. My mother has invasive ductal carcinoma, HER2 positive, ER positive, PR negative. She is 72 years old and also suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, COPD and osteoporosis. She had a lumpectomy a few weeks ago and we are scheduled to meet with her oncologist on December 8. My family is afraid that chemo will kill her because of her age and her other diseases. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We are very scared.

[Jedrik]

Well, not quite on topic, but since there seem to be no other experiences with this:

My MIL, aged 78, is being treated for ovarian cancer. She has had extensive surgery and now gets chemo with Taxotere, Carboplatin. Instead of Herceptin and Perjeta, which most likely will be what is prescribed for your mother, they give her bevacizumab.
The most distinct difference between her regimen and mine is, that she gets a low dose of T and C every week, with the antibodies every three weeks. While she hardly gets very good days which I had towards the end of the three week cycle, she does not get as down as I did during the first days.

As you can imagine she wasn't in mint condition when treatment started, either, although her breathing is fine. Even so: By now she has done twelve courses of her chemo with a weeks break after the first six courses and while she complains about getting weaker, she is still managing her every-day-life with a little support for the heavy-duty-stuff. Tumor markers have gone down nicely and she is rightly hoping for a few years of NED now.

So don't be too scared, it can all work out nicely.

[ArthGreen]

I am not sure, but I think, Radiotherapy treatment for people aged between 50 -70 can be a way. It will all depend on the ability to tolerate the treatment. You should better take opinions from doctors.