Told i had BC in Feb '09. Had tumor removed (41mm) no nodes involved , and triple neg. Went to see my surgeon to get the official results 30/3/09, and was told i will need chemo and radio, but also told that i could be put forward to go on the Beatrice trial. I am still in a state of shock and would like to know if anyone else has been put forward for this, and what their thoughts are.I also suffer with Crohns which makes the desision of going on the trial twice as hard.
Sorry, what is the Beatrice Trial - I’ve never heard of it!
The Beatrice trial is for people with primary triple negative breast cancer. One arm of the trial will receive standard chmeotherpay( an anthracycline with/without taxane) and the other arm will receive standrad chemotherpay plus avastin for a year.
There is some thinking that avastin may be more useful in treating primary breast cancer than it seems to be in trials for use in secondary breast cancer.
Jabs…this is a hard decision for you to make, particularly given the Crohns…have you talked to your Crohns consultant about likely impact of chemotherapy?
There is a woman who uses this site called Liz (can’t remember her user name…help someone?) who has bad Crohns and has had chemotherapy in the past…I think she could be a useful source of information for you.
Hope you can get sufficient information to enable you to make a decision jabs…if you go on the trial, you will get regular monitoring and checking.
best wishes
Jane
Hi Jane - it’s lizziecee.
Hi - apologies for the delay in responding - I didn’t think to look in my in box where Jo of BCC had posted, asking me to respond.
I had FEC chemo (6 sessions) in 2003 and at the time I was on methotrexate for Crohns. My first Oncologist said he would not treat me for bc unless I discontinued the mtx. I asked what would he do if I had a relapse (flare) and his arrogant response was that he would cross that bridge as and when. My gastro, normally very supportive, said he could not intervene as bc was life threatening and Crohn’s not - which I beg to differ with. I eventually saw a young female GP who worked one morning a week in the Oncology suite and we worked out a plan. I had a small daily dose of dexamethasone (a steroid) and put on enteral juice feeding. Even then, I had faecal incontinence, sometimes in the street, so I stopped going out, except for hospital visits. Shocked that I had to pay for adult diapers! Somehow I got through it, but it was tough. Friends were great and understood I couldn’t eat solid food (jelly, ice cream and thin soup)and on the odd occasion invited hubby and I for lunch, knowing I could only push my food around the plate.
You really need your gastro and Oncologist to get together and sort out a plan for when you have chemo, as I assume you will have to discontinue your Crohn’s meds if you are taking any. Prednisone is one answer apparently, but as I had a steroid induced psychosis on diagnosis of bc, my doctors would not prescribe this.
I have just had my first resection 4 weeks ago, after having had Crohn’s for some 39 yrs, 20 cm of my small intestine, ileo-caecal valve and first part of the colon. I had strictures from previous inflammation, ulcers and crypt abscesses, so it had to be done. I am recovering slowly, but not now on any Crohn’s meds. I had a pulmonary embolism Dec 22nd and spent 2 weeks in hospital - my various doctors, gastro, haematologist,gastro surgeon and bc surgeon think this clot may have come from the axilla as I had total axillary removal and got Mondor’s disease 2 yrs after dx. My legs are fine and it didn’t travel from there. They are still trying to find out how the clot got to my lung. I am now on warfarin to prevent further clots.
Since coming home my blood tests have shown very low albumin, which could be caused by cancer, liver, kidney or Crohn’s. I am having some liver function tests next week and praying it is “just Crohn’s”, and not liver mets from the bc.
I hope your Corhn’s is in remission - I did have periods of remission when I was younger and led an almost normal life, but as I have aged the symptoms have gradually become worse and surgery was the only answer. My gastro surgeon said the Crohn’s will come back, but I may get 10 yrs before further surgery is required.
If I can help further in any way, please contact me.
Take care,
Liz.