HELP - FEC vs TAC????

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Hi, I have just had my first oncology appt. I will be getting 6 cycles of FE(50)C (is anyone else on that regime??) starting 2 weeks today. I asked why I’m not getting a 3rd generation chemo regime and it’s because I didn’t have any node involvement. However, onc said he would give me a 3rd generation regime (TAC) if I really want it: it will improve my survival by 2.2% (92.3% to 94.5%) compared to the FEC but supposedly the side effects will be much worse. What would anyone else do??? Is anyone else on FE(50)C or TAC and, if so, what side effects have you suffered? I understand everyone reacts differently to chemo, but I really don’t know what to do for the best?!

Caro x

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Hello caro,
i’m currently undergoing 6x FEC (just has dose 5 - 1 left to go). I also had no lymphnode involvement but did have lymphovascular invasion. initially i wanted to be as aggressive as possible with my treatment and also wanted to take a 3rd gen chemo. however, my onc wouldn’t let me stating it was only liscensed for use in node positive cases. she also said the side effects would be much worse. so yes, i am on the same treatment that you have been recommended. good luck with making your descision.

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Hi Caro,
I am on TAC regime but have only had one lot so far (5 to go).
I had lumpectomy and all lymph nodes removed as well.
The first treatment made me feel very sick for a few days. Also with TAC you have to have steroids which make you feel great when you are on them (which for me is 3 days - day before treatment, on the day and day after) but they can make you come down with an enormous bump. I was warned that I could come down emotionally, but actually, it just made my head feel like it was about to explode which was very scary. BUT after paracetamol I was better and I was later advised that they will taper me coming off the steroids next time, so I don’t react in the same way.
Other than that, I have had achy bones and dry/sore mouth but I think you will get that with pretty much any regime due to the cell changes.
It took me a good week to start feeling ‘normal’ again. I am now (11 days after treatment) feeling fine and very much more positive about the next lot (on 29th).

I think it is unfair that you should be put in the situation of choosing which regime you want…I am sure you have enough to worry about at the moment and surely the Doc should put you in the regime which gives you the very best rate of no re-occurance etc.

I am very interested to hear more about how you get on and what you and doc decide.
Good luck with it all

Puk x

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Thanks Redcell. What have the side effects been like for you? You lucky thing; only one more to go - well done!! xx

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hi caro , i am having 3 courses of fec and three of tax … so far just finished the fec , side effects have been slight nausea but pills for sickness have helped , so not been sick just felt a little queezy at times … got a sore mouth after 3rd fec mainly my tongue is a bit course , mouth washes ease it a little , and ginger biscuits also good for the sickness … lost all my hair but gave in and shaved it off myself when it started falling out in clumps ,that was after 3 weeks of first fec …muscles can feel a bit tired but tend to pick up after the first week …and nice warm baths will some lit candles help .
good luck with the chemo it,s not nice but you might not get to many side effects , hopefully you won,t . …and if you do all i can say is there is usually something to help you through it …oh and the only other thing i got was constipated for a few days after treatment , and the movicol worked for me and plenty of water helps too …

all the best ann-marie x

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Thanks for your reply too Puk. I think the reason I’m being given a choice is because my hubby’s a consultant neurosurgeon at the hospital where I’m being treated and knows my oncologist. I appreciate it may sound unfair to be given preferential treatment, but, hey, we’ve got to have some perks in the midst of all this cr*p, right?! He recommended the FEC but said he’d give me the TAC if I really wanted to. x

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honestly caro each cycle has been different but manageable. apart from the hairloss, nausea and tiredness (which are all temporary) my main concern has been really painful, tight veins in my chemo arm. i’m more concerned about this cording/ sclerosis as i’m not sure how temporary this is going to be! there are other threads on here about veins and chemo you can catch up on if interesed. i think the main culprit is epirubicin the ‘E’ in FEC which causes this problem. xxxx

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Caro i was given a choice too and the ONC said the TAC part was harsh and only improved my prognosis by 1.5% and she felt it was not worth it for the SE you get.

Glad plan in place honey

S

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Hi Caro

I’m on FEC x 6 too, and will be having my 3rd dose on Wednesday. I also had no lymph node involvement.

I was incredibly sick after the 1st treatment, but that has been sorted out now as my Onc gave me different anti-sickness drugs which have worked a treat! Hair loss came 14 into the 1st cycle. So far, other than this, I’ve also had a dry mouth (remedied by artificial saliva, which is good, ask your doc), constipation (doc gave me movicol which has worked alright) a bit of nausea and a bit of fatigue. I know everyone has individual experiences, but have so far found that I have that I have about a week of feeling a bit rubbish and then a fortnight of feeling ok. I hope this continues!!

I agree with Ann-Marie that drinking loads of water helps!

Good luck and take care.

AM xx

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Hi Caro, oh I see. Well that is good then. At least your husband may have some knowledge about the different drugs and I don’t think it is a bad thing you are being given the option, I just know that I would be pretty confused if I had been given the options of 2 different regimes.
Will let you know how my 2nd lot goes on Wed, I think they may alter the dose of Chemo or the anti sickness drugs so I don’t feel to sick…here’s hoping.

Good luck :slight_smile: x

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I had 4 FEC and then 4 Tax. I had 100% lymph node involvement.

The FEC had no ill effects whatsoever apart from hair loss - I wondered if they were just pumping coloured water through me???
I met a nurse who was sick as a dog on FEC so it’s very individual; to me it was a breeze. Most women find Tax to be a bit arduous because it IS a harsh set of drugs.

Tax on the other hand has left lasting damage to nerves in feet. I had split finger nails, some people lose their nails. Hair grew back before it was finished though and I still wasn’t “ill” with it although had a lot of bone pain which got sorted when I refused the Neulasta for the last few sessions. Had difficulty eating during the later stages and lost a lot of weight (still can’t find where it went!) but was on holiday 2 weeks after I finished.

If you have no lymph node involvement I don’t see why you’d need to use a hammer to crack a nut (and by the sound of it your oncologist is trying to advise you thus) but as you have had a bilateral mx you may be risk averse, or unable to rely on screening so why not go for broke and throw the harshest drugs at it that you can if they’re on offer.

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Hi Ladies
So far I’ve had 1 of my 3 FEC to be followed by 3 T. On this as 1/3 of my lymphnodes were affected and had full clearance.
Goes to show how different everyone is I did feel a bit sick but started my anit- sick meds early, was so tierd keep falling asleep for the first 3 days, took 8 days to get energy back. Did have sore mouth, and one night with hallucinations (glad I don’t mind spiders).
However the worse for me were the steroids as they made me feel terrible, On the last (day3) day took me half an hour to gear myself up to takeing them whilest crying my eyes out.
So far hair hasnt fallen out but does feel very course, was cherfully informed by Onc Reg well if your hair dosnt fall out on the FEC it will on the T! ho hum.
Caro I dont know what I’d do in your position, think I’d get your husband to find out all the pros and cons of both treatments so’s you can make as much of an informed decission as possible.

All the best
g

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I think I’d be putting my oncologist through his paces - you have to be guided by them.

Ask for the leaflet which tell you all the possible side effects associated with each drug and all the side effects which aren’t listed but are still possible. Which side effects can they treat? Which will leave permanent damage and to what extent. Go for broke with chemo if it means you can escape RT because it the real killer in terms of irreversible, irreparable long term and ongoing damage and they are REALLY economical with the truth there.

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I completed my last TAC July 10th and can honestly say that it was not half as bad as I thought it would be. I still went to concerts in London, a theme park, meals and for my sins I went clubbing until 3a.m 2 weeks after the last poisoning!

My cancer was grade 1, with one lymph gland having just a few cells lurking, but they whipped them all out just to be on the safe side. I had TAC as my Mum had BC at 41, I was DX at 39.

Radio starts next Tuesday (20 zaps) and so far no side effects from Tamoxifen. I will start Zoladex next week.

I wasn’t sick on TAC (same night of chemo I had a chinese takeaway EVERY time), had no mouth ulcers, the worse bit for me was the achey bones the bone marrow boosting injections I gave myself caused in my long bones. That lasted a day, so I stayed in bed, then had a bath, gentle massage, hot water bottle,then back in the bath!

Little things like constipation and having zero taste is a pain, but with practise you can sort the constipation out very easily. Sadly the taste problem is just part and parcel I think of any treatment.

Steroids were fine, I had 8 a day to take for 3 days, the only thing that peed me off with them is that they made my face round, so much so, I looked like Moon.pig.com - ha ha. They also gave me red, rosey cheeks that my hubby nicknamed ‘Rosie & Jim’. They did get quite warm, but nothing to moan about really.

Having been through chemo and if I had the choice you are faced with, I would have TAC. No chemo is ‘nice’, so you may as well go for the meatier of the two. Fingers x you will only ever have to do this once in your lifetime, so may as well go for the best,even if it has just a tinier success rate. Why have a second class stamp when you can have a first?

Good luck with your choice, and feel free to PM me if you want to.

Daisy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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I had 4xFec,4xTax in 2004. I probably would have held on to my hair on Fec only- it didnt fall out util the tax. Apart from that they were more or less the same- I didn’t really feel bad on either! Did get more and more tired on the Taxol but maybe that was because I was coming to the end of my chemo.If I were you I’d take all they throw at me. Remember one percent is 100 people per 1,000. Good luck with whatever choice you make,
Josie x

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Thank you everyone for your replies. I’m still undecided and keep swaying from one to the other!! The thought of taking steroids doesn’t sound too appealing; not sure if I’d have to have them on FEC or not. Redcell, Sue (Evie), AM; did any of you need to take steroids?

AM and Puk – hope your chemo sessions went ok today and the sickness stays at bay.

Good luck to everyone else with your treatments.
Caro xx

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Caro, I was given steriods to take at home after each dose of Tax but found I didnt need them.I really cut down on them and eventually didnt take any. They usually give steriods intraveniously with the tax - I didn’t see the need to take any extras.By the way it was my chemo buddy who recommended this- and her sister was a chemo nurse and brother a doctor specialising in cancer. If their advice was good enough for her it was good enough for me!
Josie x

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hi caro, i have IV steroids when they give me the FEC. i also have some to take home for the sickness, but i have never really needed to rely on them. xx

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Caro - I forgot to add, I never had any problems with the steroids, I slept just fine, unless I took my evening lot after 9pm. If I did that, I was awake at 3am mentally re-aranging the wardrobes and kitchen cupboards! If I took them at 5/6pm then went to bed at 10ish, all was fine.

Like I said, the only problem I had was the rosie red cheeks, the upside to that was the amount of times I got told ‘blimey, you look well’, so, not all doom & gloom with steroids.

The anti-sickness tablets I had were brilliant, never felt sick at all.

Hope you reach your decision soon, please don’t stress over it too much.

Daisy xx

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i took steroids and whilst i was never sick or felt sick i couldnt stop eating,figetting,moving,and it gave me cracking insomia even when taken at 2pm. Once i stopped them two days later i felt so rubbish i couldnt move off the couch and I kept literally shutting shown even when trying to eat…not good with babies. The second cycle i halved the dose and felt great on that. No probs. No sickness and ONC said dont take them if i dont want to.

oh i got a steroid round face too! made me cry my eyes out!

everyone different tho huh??