Docetaxel, cisplatin, and trastuzumab show great result

[kk1]

Hi Steph;

Interesting point, as they say size is not everything. I had a small ~1cm non-palatable breast tumor that had already metastized to my liver-- contrast that this report where 13cm was still localized. As the kids say go figure!

Here in Miami we have a large population of uninsured people and a large immigrant population. UM runs the Miami-Dade county hospital (Jackson Memorial) as their teaching Hospital so all the Oncs and surgeons at UM/Sylvestor practice at Jackson, where they see many of the indigent population who delay treatment until things are desperate because they don't have access to earlier treatment. Most of us on this board are very fortunate to have access to the type of information and care we receive.

btw- Steph, Looks like am going to be in Seattle July 22nd would love to meet you for lunch iif your in town then.

KK1

[Audrey]

Steph, regarding tumor size--I think Her2+ tumors can get really large quickly in some cases. My tumor was 15 cm (!) and I'm only 5 ft. tall (100 lbs. at diagnosis). You ask who wouldn't notice a large tumor? It's not all just women in denial or ignoring palpable masses...My tumor was not detected by my ob-gyn, two breast surgeons, not visible on mammogram or noted on ultrasound. I presented with a bloody nipple discharge, had a nipple biopsy, which showed atypical cells/DCIS, then underwent a mastectomy. Only the pathologist's report showed invasive cancer and noted the large tumor size. When I asked everybody how they could have missed something so large, the surgeon noted that the tumor was not a large mass like a grapefruit, but more like a slender snake...Also, since I was younger (36) my breasts were very dense and this makes mammograms harder to read. I used to think I was doomed since the tumor was so large, but I've had a few friends in support groups who had very small tumors at diagnosis and have since passed away. You really can't tell one's future based on tumor size anymore. Anyway, this was all 5 years ago and I'm doing fine..