Hello everyone,
my mom was first diagnosed with breast cancer four year ago. Back then she only had one affected breast and a couple of lymph nodes. After the surgery and the radiation, the cancer treatment was concluded.
Sadly five months ago the doctors found out she had five liver tumors (one bigger than 5 mm) from the breast cancer she had had four years ago.
She is currently taking Palbociclib (100) and Letrozol but we are worried about the amount and size of these tumors and this is why, we would like to know if anyone here is recieving local treatment for their liver tumors.
Thank you in advance.
I wish you all the best with all my heart.
Maria
Hi Maria and sorry to hear about your Mom.
It is always a shock to find out that the original primary has now spread and the liver is one of the main organs that it tends to go to, that and bones. I had my secondary diagnosis back in 2008, in my bones, and then 5 years later it spread to my liver. I too had several spots (lesions) but as I had been taking a hormonal treatment for the past 5 years (anastrozole) it was decided to start me on an oral chemo (Capecitabine). Since then I have had other treatments including other hormonals. I’m not sure if you are in the UK but the general view is to treat the liver systemically when there are more than, say, a couple of lesions (I’m not sure of the exact number) this also treats the whole body and this is done through chemo or hormonals. Therefore your Mom will be on the treatment that her oncologist thinks is right for her at the moment. Normally a scan is done every 3 months or so to see how the lesions are responding to treatment. If at some point the number of lesions reduces to a level where localised treatment can be given this is an option. Localised or targeted treatments include RFA (radio frequency ablation) where the lesion is burnt out or surgery (resection) where the lesion is removed. There is also a treatment that involves radioactive beads being inserted into the liver to destroy the lesions (SIRT). I have had a liver section, last year, when my lesions had reduced (by systemic treatment) to only 1 being visible which was removed, along with 2 very small ones that had not been picked up prior to surgery. Although this was successful and I remained disease free in my liver for a year I now have a small number of lesions that are new and are, again, being treated systematically, this time with chemo.
I hope this helps with some background information, it’s very difficult to take everything in at the beginning but it’s good you are thinking of other ways to help your Mom. Hormone treatments, along with the newer added drugs such as Palbociclib work very well and are far less harsh on the body than chemo with fewer side effects.
Nicky x