Some questions on treatment 'cocktails'

[OzzieSue]

I have been lurking on the forum since June 06. I have found it most helpful re treatment and side effects. Decided to join as now I have some questions I hope someone out there can answer.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer and bone mets in Oct 05. ER+ PR-. Was put on Femara and Aredia. In Feb 06 felt the lump was growing and there was bone activity. Had scans and showed the bone mets had doubled. Onc suggested immediate surgery and chemo. I was against chemo and spent a couple of weeks at an alternative clinic. After a few weeks felt like it was taking off again so submitted to surgery and chemo. While I was waiting for mastectomy in June and chemo in July the cancer spread to my liver with multiple lesions and a spot on my lung. Pathology report from mastectomy showed Her2+++ but ER- (which is probably why Femara didn’t work). I questioned why ER- when originally ER+. Onc went back to pathology and they confirmed their original report. Started Taxotere/Herceptin weekly, as well as Aredia 4 weekly which I had been having since diagnosis. Because my WBC kept going down, my body formed the pattern of 2 weeks on chemo and 2 weeks off, which I have been doing since Aug/Sept. Felt really well on this treatment and was optimistic of outcome. First scans at 3 months showed stable liver and lung and slight regression of bone lesions – not as good as we’d hoped. Last scan in Dec showed good regression of bone lesions, lung stable but 2 liver lesions had grown.

Onc suggested Tykerb/Xeloda but is not sure if it is available in Aust yet. He is trying to contact colleagues but because it is summer holidays here most places shut down and are only now starting to go back. Even if it is available here not sure if it would be free. I looked through your posts on treatment and found several of you on Herc/Carboplatin/Taxol, and I think one on H/C/Taxotere.

Have I missed any combinations - are they the usual ones? I will email my Onc when I have some feedback so he can do some more research. Am looking for some response to liver but don’t want to stop the bone lesion regression, so maybe Herc/Taxotere/Carboplatin may be the way to go?

So far I haven’t lost my hair, has thinned quite a bit. Do you lose hair with Carboplatin?

Also the chemo nurses were discussing yesterday the order of infusing Herceptin, Taxotere. I have always had Taxotere first then Herceptin, they thought maybe it should be the other way around. After some research decided to stay with Taxotere first. In what order do others have your drugs?

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Looking forward to some feedback

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Sue in Canberra, Australia