StageIV BC Cured??

[jeff]

http://www.jco.org/cgi/content/full/20/3/620

Check this out--this guy writes interesting stuff about the possibility that some women with metastatic bc are getting cured...

Best to all,
Jeff

[Marily]

Joe, I leave tomorrow very early for California but when I arrive I will call my Oncologist and see if I can get those slides.. or whatever I need. I am very eager to find out more about this.. Thank you so much for your interest Marily

[jhandley]

It seems to me there is an even more important place for the her 2 serum testing in the long term survivor scenario.

jackie

[Lani]

Great article
I would like to start another thread inquiring of those Long-Lived Stage IVs what their hormone receptor status is and, if ER positive, how long they have been/were on antihormonal therapy, and what kind

I have heard bantered around that the ER receptor pathway may be the origin of the resistance that develops to Herceptin treatment.

If this is so, would the cancer be expected to return when antihormonals are stopped--which, I suppose, they never do...

So much to learn.

So much to know.

So little certainty - I wonder what they will make of todays treatments in 100 years.

A cure? Isn't life an ongoing remission from a greater bodily failure - no cure there I have heard of.

Ongoing remission and good health to all.

RB

[Lolly]

This really is an interesting thread; I'm updating my earlier (2003!) post to bring this back to the top, and to say that I've recurred 2 more times since this thread was started, but only to the same lymph nodes as the ones I recurred to in 2001, so I'm very intrigued by Jeff's link as I now believe some of us are going to be living a very long time with manageable disease, even though we can't consider ourselves "cured" of metastatic disease. Another study possibility?!

<3 Lolly

P.S. to Anne;
I'm ER/PR-, from first diagnosis in '99, and had biopsy re-tested both for HER2 and hormone with this recurrence, still HER2+, ER/PR-...

[anne]

Ladies,

Of your long time survival: BRAVO! I was curious to see how many of you were ER+. Does it increase your chance of being "cured" if you can have antihormanal tx along w. Herceptin? Curious what the experience on the board is?

[DeeM]

hi all,

Well for once, I do not qualified for the long term study! But I have been on herception for over 4 years 2 months and have had no progression on my bone mets. So if you do need another body and let us "younger" ones participate, let me know.

Dee

[Marily]

Lani, Just found your questions. I am very Er +++Pr +++ and Her2+++DX r breast,had 13 lymph removed, metz to liver, lung,bone. Did rounds of A/C taxol/Herceptin. On tamox for 3 years had to fight to get off it, since it is felt that Herceptin people should not be on tamox for more than 2-3 years. But you have also to be post menapausal which I was not, and had to fight to prove first I was not post menapausal, did the lupron, etc. ovaries came back to work after the big chemo? than to fight to have my ovaries out to go on to Aromasin.. I was 55 and they were perfectly functioning, so now plan to stay on Aromasin until ? what ever new comes up I guess. Really was interested to hear that Er+ with Her 2pos was an unusual thing? I am looking for more information on that... anyone else hear this?
Marily

[Johanna Johannsdottir]

Hello again,

I have nothing to contribute on the subject because I started this stage IV only 9 months ago. Was first dx. Ã* januar 2002. Before I found this website I searched for infos and found this sentence but have forgotten where. I keep in my computer and read it now and then. Thinking about to enlarge it and print it.

,,The goal of treatment for stage IV cancer is to prolong survival and maintain the quality of life. Women with stage IV disease are often told that, although long-term management of their cancer is possible, there is no cure. Yet more and more people with stage IV cancer are defying the odds of cancer survival.“
best to all


Jóhanna

[callen03]

I was diagnosed this year. I didn't realize how lucky I was to be getting Herceptin until I found this website.

Like the above post, my oncologist told me that the "average" person with Stage IV can look forward to two years of remission. I am optimistic that I will not be "average" and will benefit from newer and better medicines. I am taking part in a clinical trial (doxil, carbo, & herceptin) for Stage IV BC.

I hope to increase the stats, along with those of you who also receive Herceptin.

Wish me luck!!!!

[maryb]

Hi...I stumbled on your bullet and was wondering why only 2-3 on tamox? I was diag in '99, very ER+ and PR+ and her2/neu positive(value never reported...); I have done the five years of tamoxifen, am currently on Femara and just started on Herceptin.....no distant metastic disease ever diagnosed, but have 15 of 36 nodes test positive....(still here and fighting!!)

[Lyn]

Hi, I was never on Tamoxefin, at the time I was premenapausal and not hormone responsive, apparently your status can change but Femara didn't work for me but later Aromasin did, similar but better than Tamoxefin, and used when Tamoxefin failed, I have been treating nodes around neck and skin mets non stop since 1998 and hardly ever stayed NED long enough to stay on these drugs but as the Aromasin shrunk some nodes while waiting for radiation I stayed on it until my onc came up with the brilliant stupid idea to stop it, I have a friend who was on Tamoxefin for 12 months and kept complaining of being short of breath, it wasn't until they did a CT with her laying on her stomach that they found she had clots on the lung from the Tamoxefen then decided to treat her seriously but last I heard they weren't budging. So I am back on the Aromasin but not doing much for spinal chord involvement.

Love & Hugs Lyn