When to change tracks? The Talk

[ElaineM]

Kathy,
Mahalo for the miso soup recipe. I am in the mood for that again. I will have a bowl for lunch tomorrow.
I am with you about eating soy products in moderation.
It seems science can't make up its mind about soy and breast cancer. Sometimes they say it is okay and sometimes they say it isn't. Women across Asia eat more soy than Western women eat, yet Asian women generally get less breast cancer. Other factors probably contribute to breast cancer besides eating soy. I read a study that Asian women who come to the West and adopt a western diet get more breast cancer than women in Asia get. Humm.

[Kathy S in Tokyo]

We had matsutake rice with five kinds of Japanese mushrooms for dinner tonight with a soup that had three more kinds of mushrooms and lots of chopped scallions. Mmmmm, even if it was a little overboard. :-)

I start taxotere again on Tuesday and have high hopes for it. I e-mailed Paula Young to make sure they credited my order to affiliate #1900 - HER2 Support Group and tell them how much I've appreciated their service in the past.

Time for bed now.

Hugs,

[Mary Anne in TX]

Hey Kathy!
That taxotere is one bad guy!!!! I'll bet it kicks some c cell butt!!!!!
Lots of love, ma

[ElaineM]

Kathy,
We are all hoping that the Herceptin and Taxotere will kick the cancer right out of your body.
Keep eating all those mushrooms. They help the immune system and the white blood counts stay focused on doing what they are supposed to do.
Take care !!

[Rich66]

Kathy.
I fixed an error in my previous post. It's not megace...it's Medroxyprogesterone Acetate.

Is there any info on shrooms being complementary to(not conflicting with) chemo? Are you going to continue mainlining shrooms during Taxotere?

[Kathy S in Tokyo]

Mushrooms aren't listed as contradictory to taxotere so I guess that the amounts I eat as part of the regular family diet (versus the amounts one might get with supplements which are concentrated extracts) won't really affect things either way. :-) They do taste good though.

[Rich66]

What is the anti cancer mechanism of the shrooms? Me thinks if they don't slow down the cancer cells, making them less visible to Taxotere, they might be fine.

[Rich66]

Found some Japanese pubmed abstracts you might find interesting:

1989: Okino T; Kan N; Nakanishi M; Satoh K; Mise K; Yamasaki S; Teramura Y; Hori T; Kodama H; Ohgaki K
[The therapeutic effects of OK-432 (Picibanil )combined adoptive immunotherapy (AIT) against liver metastases of breast cancer]
Gan to kagaku ryoho. Cancer & chemotherapy 1989;16(4 Pt 2-3):1913-9.

We studied the effect of OK-432 combined AIT in 24 cases of liver metastases of breast cancer. Eleven of the 16 patients (69%) who received intraarterial transfer responded to this therapy. On the other hand, no patients responded to intravenous or intraportal transfer. The minimum cell number for a therapeutic response was 10(9) cells. Four patients had abscopal effects after therapy. The serum CEA level paralleled the therapeutic effects. There were no severe side effects accompanying this therapy. These results indicate that intra-arterial OK-432 combined AIT should be the first choice therapy against liver metastases of breast cancer.

Picibanil: A lyophilized preparation of a low-virulence strain (SU) of Streptococcus pyogenes (S. hemolyticus), inactivated by heating with penicillin G. It has been proposed as a noncytotoxic antineoplastic agent because of its immune system-stimulating activity.

1: Oncol Rep. 2005 Feb;13(2):289-94.Links
Inhibitory effects of OK-432 (Picibanil) on cellular proliferation and adhesive capacity of breast carcinoma cells.

Horii Y, Iino Y, Maemura M, Horiguchi J, Morishita Y.
Department of Thoracic and Visceral Organ Surgery, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-39-22 Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan. y.horii@jcom.home.ne.jp
We investigated the potent inhibitory effects of OK-432 (Picibanil) on both cellular adhesion and cell proliferation of estrogen-dependent (MCF-7) or estrogen-independent (MDA-MB-231) breast carcinoma cells. Cellular proliferation of both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells was markedly inhibited in a dose-dependent manner, when the carcinoma cells were exposed to OK-432. Cell attachment assay demonstrated that incubation with OK-432 for 24 h reduced integrin-mediated cellular adhesion of both cell types. However, fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis revealed that incubation with OK-432 for 24 h did not decrease the cell surface expressions of any integrins. These results suggest that the binding avidity of integrins is reduced by OK-432 without alteration of the integrin expression. We conclude that OK-432 inhibits integrin-mediated cellular adhesion as well as cell proliferation of breast carcinoma cells regardless of estrogen-dependence, and that these actions of OK-432 contribute to prevention or inhibition of breast carcinoma invasion and metastasis.




Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. 2007 Oct;34(10):1689-91.[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Rich/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image001.gif[/IMG] Links
[A case of recurrent breast cancer with multiple liver metastases responding to combination therapy of capecitabine and MPA]

[Article in Japanese]
Konishi K, Hasegawa N, Kawabata M, Abeshima S, Ichimura T, Kaneko H, Nakayama T.
Dept. of Surgery, Kushiro City General Hospital.
The patient was a 68-year-old woman who underwent left partial mastectomy on February 1999. The stage was T2N1. There were positive for estrogen and progesterone receptors in the tumor. After operation, adjuvant therapy consisting of oral administration of tamoxifen and radiation was performed. On February 2005, she felt dyspnea and right femoral pain. After examinations, she was diagnosed as recurrent breast cancer with pleuritis carcinomatosa and bone metastasis. The patient was treated with oral administration of anastrozole and pamidronate disodium 90 mg intravenously every 4 weeks, radiation of her right femur, and OK-432 injection into the intrapleural cavity. On November 2005, she felt general fatigue and anorexia. CT examination revealed multiple liver metastases. She was treated with oral combination chemoendocrine therapy with capecitabine (2,400 mg/day) and MPA (600 mg/day). After the four courses, multiple liver metastases were remarkably reduced in the CT findings. After twelve courses, the partial response continued. No adverse reactions occurred except for gain in weight of grade 1. It is suggested that this oral combination chemoendocrine therapy may be useful for recurrent breast cancer with consideration for treatment effectiveness and the quality of life of the patient.



Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. 1999 Jul;26(8):1177-80.Links
[A case of breast cancer with liver metastases responding remarkably to combination therapy of mitoxantrone (MIT), doxifluridine (5'-DFUR) and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA)]

[Article in Japanese]
Fujitake S, Maeda Y, Shimizu M, Nozaki H, Tohyama M, Kataoka S.
Dept. of Surgery, Meitetsu Hospital.
A 60-year-old woman with her right breast cancer showing simultaneous and multiple liver metastases was initially treated with CEFT [cyclophosphamide (CPA), epirubicin (epi-ADM), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), tamoxifen (TAM)]. After one treatment course the primary lesion did not decrease while tumor markers and liver lesion size increased. Therefore, the foul-smelling primary lesion was resected followed by treatment with mitoxantrone (MIT), 10 mg intravenously every 4 weeks as well as daily/oral administrations of doxifluridine (5'-DFUR) and medroxyprogester-one acetate (MPA). Following MIT administration, the tumor markers decreased markedly, so treatment was continued. After the third course, therapy was continued on an outpatient basis. During treatment WBC reduction to about 3,000/microliter was the only adverse reaction. After 10 courses, the tumor markers were normal, and after 15 courses there were no liver metastases on abdominal CT. Generally, patients with resistance to standard anthracycline chemotherapy are difficult to treat. Those with liver metastasis especially have a poor response which results in a poor prognosis. However, therapy with MIT, 5'-DFUR and MPA may be useful in previously treated, advanced and recurrent breast cancer. Furthermore, this therapy can be done on an outpatient basis, which presumably improves the quality of life (QOL).













1: Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. 2000 Dec;27(14):2235-8.Links
[A case of breast cancer with multiple organ metastases responding remarkably to combination therapy of CAF (cyclophosphamide, adriamycin and 5-FU), 5'-DFUR and MPA (medroxyprogesterone acetate)]

[Article in Japanese]
Maruyama S, Okumoto T, Kawasaki K, Ino H, Kanaya Y, Otani J, Yokoyama N, Soda M.
Dept. of Surgery, Himeji St. Mary's Hospital.
A 52-year-old woman complaining of breast tumor was diagnosed as having advanced breast cancer (T4bN1M1-Stage IV), with metastasis of multiple organs (lung, liver, mediastinal and unilateral axillary lymph nodes) after which she underwent tumorectomy. Postoperative adjuvant therapy was performed using combined chemoendocrine therapy (CAF + 5'-DFUR + MPA). Following the endocrine therapy, the metastatic lesions of the liver and lung had disappeared. The adverse effects were not remarkable. Complete remission was continued for 2 years and 3 months, and the patient enjoyed a favorable quality of life.
1: Jpn J Clin Oncol. 1995 Feb;25(1):10-5.[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Rich/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image002.gif[/IMG] Links
Eyelid metastasis from breast cancer showing marked response to chemotherapy.

Zhang GJ, Adachi I, Yin DF, Narabayashi M, Tokue Y, Watanabe T, Kaneko A, Tsuda H, Abe K.
Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo.
A patient with recurrent breast cancer, who was diagnosed with eyelid metastasis as a part of systemic metastases and in whom systemic chemotherapy was markedly effective, is reported. A 50-year-old woman underwent a radical mastectomy for stage II breast cancer in October, 1988. Histologically, the tumor was invasive lobular carcinoma. In October, 1993, the patient consulted our hospital complaining primarily of swelling of the left eyelid and restriction of movement in the left eye. Metastasis from breast cancer was diagnosed on eyelid biopsy. On further examination, metastases were detected in the liver, bone, orbit, peritoneum and pleura. Systemic combined chemotherapy consisting of cyclophosphamide, adriamycin and 5-fluorouracil was administered intravenously at intervals of three weeks. Complete responses were obtained in the eyelid and peritoneal metastases after three courses, and in the liver metastasis after five courses. Partial responses were also observed in the bone and pleural metastases. The incidence of eyelid metastasis from breast cancer is very low, one case only having been previously reported in Japan and 34 cases abroad. Most of these cases were treated locally by surgical resection or radiotherapy, but the mean survival period was only 14 months, ranging from two months to four years. Eyelid metastasis from breast cancer should be regarded as a manifestation of systemic spread of the tumor and, in principle, treated by systemic therapy.
PMID: 7877258 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

[StephN]

Yes, Kathy, been wondering how you are feeling lately.

Did you have Tofurky for the holiday meal??

I know Taxotere had me nearly incapacitated for a few days, so hope you either get a lower dose or tolerate it better.

Healing thoughts toward you, my girl! Let your body "remember" its healthy "self" and don't let your family take the energy you need to kick the cancer butt. (I know - easier said than done.)

[Vic]

Hi Kathy,

Your "from-the-heart" message is as real as it gets and I encourage you to keep writing. You have a healthy balance between the head and the heart and as ElaineM (and the others) said, just keep going, putting one foot in front of the other. I learned from a Zen meditation talk about how we go straight on a winding road and we just pay attention and keep moving forward, doing what needs to be done. Sending you loving vibes from So. Cal.

Vicki Z, who loves ahi tataki, miso soup, sushi, mmgood.

[Mary Anne in TX]

Hi Kathy!
I knew a guy that used to say aloud to himself all the time...."Everything I eat turns to skinny"! I thought he was nuts til I noticed that it worked!
Much love to ya, ma