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Jean · 07-02-2006, 08:37 AM

Chelee,
Just read your post - After months of being told by three top onc. in NYC that I did NOT need chemo/herceptin I continued to check, research and follow my gut - after pushing and demanding FISH, oncotype etc. I was told by leading onc. here that yes - I should have A/C (after the tests came back) months after dx. with all that I was extremely uncomfortable with just accepting the chemo that was being offered just like that! I decided to consult and flew out to see Dr. Slamon who did perform in his lab the TOPO 11 test...I was negative and A/C would have caused an unnecessary risk for me. He advised TCH - this disease has so many unknowns - the future of bc trt will change with more personal testing of each individual tumor and NOT a blanket type approach. It is changing but ever so slowly - hopefully in the next few years we will see advancements in this area of trt. There was posted recently the result of the studies of A/C verses TCH on this site...there was a slight difference between the two - I believe it was a 3% difference. You could search and find the results, I highly suggest you do so as when I read the test studies I felt very good about the TCH trt it was very impressive. Also, Dr. Slamon felt very confident in the trt program. The major difference with the two trts was the heart toxic risk that could occur with A/C. Your trt is sound - yes - most onc. do give A/C as protocol - but we are now learning that our generation of bc women require additional testing of our tumors - this is cutting edge material and unfortunately will take additional time. I hope this helps you to feel confident in your trt. I just had a wonderful conversation the other day with a leading research Dr. from MD Anderson - most important along with our trt - is our state of mind. Positive attitude is extremely important and the mind helps heal the body.

All good wishes,
Jean

07-02-2006, 08:37 AM	#4
Jean Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 3,154	Mind helps heal the body also! Chelee, Just read your post - After months of being told by three top onc. in NYC that I did NOT need chemo/herceptin I continued to check, research and follow my gut - after pushing and demanding FISH, oncotype etc. I was told by leading onc. here that yes - I should have A/C (after the tests came back) months after dx. with all that I was extremely uncomfortable with just accepting the chemo that was being offered just like that! I decided to consult and flew out to see Dr. Slamon who did perform in his lab the TOPO 11 test...I was negative and A/C would have caused an unnecessary risk for me. He advised TCH - this disease has so many unknowns - the future of bc trt will change with more personal testing of each individual tumor and NOT a blanket type approach. It is changing but ever so slowly - hopefully in the next few years we will see advancements in this area of trt. There was posted recently the result of the studies of A/C verses TCH on this site...there was a slight difference between the two - I believe it was a 3% difference. You could search and find the results, I highly suggest you do so as when I read the test studies I felt very good about the TCH trt it was very impressive. Also, Dr. Slamon felt very confident in the trt program. The major difference with the two trts was the heart toxic risk that could occur with A/C. Your trt is sound - yes - most onc. do give A/C as protocol - but we are now learning that our generation of bc women require additional testing of our tumors - this is cutting edge material and unfortunately will take additional time. I hope this helps you to feel confident in your trt. I just had a wonderful conversation the other day with a leading research Dr. from MD Anderson - most important along with our trt - is our state of mind. Positive attitude is extremely important and the mind helps heal the body. All good wishes, Jean Last edited by Jean; 07-02-2006 at 08:39 AM..