Hope for neo-adjuvant chemo patients with a complete pathological response
 

I heard from a doctor yesterday that told me that out of 50+ patients who were treated in the past 5 years with a combination of big chemo guns (AC, TC, FEC, etc) and Herceptin in his clinic, only 2 have recurred. Those 2 recurred with brain mets, got Cyberknife and are now doing fine.

Just wanted to put this out there to give hope where much is needed.

Enjoy your weekend!

Re: Hope for neo-adjuvant chemo patients with a complete pathological response
 

Marcia;
I'm giving you a big virtual hug. This gives me hope.
Hugs and prayers your way.

Kris.....

Re: Hope for neo-adjuvant chemo patients with a complete pathological response
 

Wonderful info - most docs won't say this kind of thing unless they are really certain.

Re: Hope for neo-adjuvant chemo patients with a complete pathological response
 

Yes, exactly! I loved this guy. Even with my 11/13 nodes positive (but almost a complete response) he told me I have a much better prognosis than what those numbers on paper would appear to indicate. He went on to say that if I make it to the 3 year mark I can pretty much consider myself cured.

I loved hearing that word - cure. It made me smile from ear to ear and wake up today with a new hope and attitude towards the future. I even dreamed I was at my son's wedding last night! He is 4 but I sure hope to make it there!!!!

Re: Hope for neo-adjuvant chemo patients with a complete pathological response
 

bejuce--were you ER negative?

Re: Hope for neo-adjuvant chemo patients with a complete pathological response
 

No, I was initially diagnosed at ER+ 5% but had the test re-done and was found to be ER+ 30%. I asked the doctor whether the ER positivity would change things, and he believed that in the aggressive, fast tumor that I had, the HER-2 was the main driver. He also said that I responded really well to Tykerb and the chemo I had prior to surgery, which is an indication that the HER-2 was really the main culprit in my case.

I tried to challenge him by asking him about the statement that Dr. Love had made - that one is only cured of cancer when you die at 92 of something else - and he said that that's no longer the case for HER-2+.

He showed me a spreadsheet of many pages of patients (I just saw the blank back pages) that he has treated, HER-2+ or not, and he said that achieving a complete or close to complete response to chemo prior to surgery has indeed in his practical experience proven to be a great predictor of success.

Either way, I'm more optimistic now than I was before. Granted, I went to him to ask about a 2nd opinion and he still thinks I should get into a vaccine trial or the Neuratinib trial because of my high risk, but he believes I should do very well.

It was truly wonderful to hear that!

Re: Hope for neo-adjuvant chemo patients with a complete pathological response
 

Yay! This is very encouraging news and as always, wish you continued progress! Hugs!

Re: Hope for neo-adjuvant chemo patients with a complete pathological response
 

Hello Bejuce & KDR, Glad to hear positive news! This is my first post as I'm getting used to the site. Hugs to you :-)

Hmm, I need to figure out how to add my stats.

Re: Hope for neo-adjuvant chemo patients with a complete pathological response
 

That's excellent news to hear. Thank you for sharing and giving us hope!