Hi all
Am being treated at RM and oncologist said that because of tumour Grade 2 and 2 lymph nodes and LVI that they thought 4 rounds of EC would be enough. Especially as I was not certain about chemo. I haven’t tolerated chemo very well and had trips to hospital. Last EC is Tuesday but wondering if I should go for four Taxol as well. Any thoughts on this? Presumably they work differently?
Zx
Dear Newbie1, I know from my own 3xperience how difficult these decisions are and we all have to make them according to our own individual circumstances. I refused Taxol after 4 x Ec because i didnt want to risk peripheral neuropathy, especially as i have type 1 diabetes and am a musician. Because i refused the Taxol I was denied Phesgo and refused Herceptin. I then had a mastectomy. The tumour had not shrunk with the EC so did not have 2hat is called a complete response. The standard treatment path in this scenario is usually Kadcyla but because I had refused 5he chemo i was told i was not eligible for the standard treatment path and was now on my own individual path for which no recurrence risk data existed. I was offered Taxol again but refused it again. I am now on Herceptin and Letrozole. My tumour was ER8 Her2 positive on biopsy but was ER8 her2 negative when examined after surgery. It was grade 3 with LVI but stage 2 node negative. So from my experience be sure to ask about any impact of your decision, whatever you decide, on whether it will impact on your ongoing treatment plan. I wish you well going forward with with love from Tulip xxx
They do work differently, which is why many (most?) people are offered both. Some people find one easier than the other. If you decide to go ahead you aren’t committing yourself to the whole course.
I think taxane work differently and damage the tubules so you could look at your path report to see what Nottingham grade score you had for the tubule formation.
On a personal note, I found EC a nightmare. I really didn’t want to carry on with it, but did. And the I did docetaxal and didn’t find it nearly as bad. So it may be worth trying a round to see how you go. It was so much easier for me but I’ve seen other people find it worse so there’s not always any telling with these things.
I had 3 EC and then 9 rounds of the Paclitaxol and for me personally I found the taxol a doddle in comparison to EC. With the taxol they gave me IV antihistamies just prior to starting and then I’d have the frozen mitts and socks on to prevent peripheral neuropathy. I’d sit and have my treatment and then go home and sleep for the rest of the day. The next morning I found myself waking up feeling super rested and I didn’t have any of the nausea. I did get a little bit of the neuropathy in the very tips of my fingers but that has gone totally again now.
I would caveat that we all react differently to chemo though and I may just have been super fortunate and I totally understand your concerns. However I also feel it’s only right for people to hear the positive experiences too otherwise any new patients will just be frightened after likely inadvertently finding chemo horror stories.
Whatever you choose to do, I wish you well and am sending virtual hugs to you and anyone else on this crappy ride X
Thanks so much for reply. Lot to think about x
Thank you for this. I was borderline treatment for chemo -4.8% difference and oncologist felt 4 rounds of EC every two weeks enough x
Yes that’s true. I could have one and see how I feel x
Thanks for this very helpful x
Hi @newbie1 just wondering how you got on with the paclitaxel ? I have the same dilemma at the moment in querying whether to continue treatment.
Hi there
My oncologist decided I had had enough treatment! Even though I had only managed some of the Epirubicin I had managed the cyclophosphamide non problem and apparently that was the important one. Because my cancer is so hormone driven he felt the vast majority of my benefit will come from hormone therapy. Sorry this isn’t very helpful to you. The reason I was hesitant about taxanes was that I already have hypothyroidism and therefore felt I was a shoe in for nerve damage.
Have you already had EC?
X
Hi @newbie1 thankyou for getting back to me. My treatment is for TNBC following surgery of which Iam on my way to my 3rd cycle of Epirubicin and Cyclophosphamide pre x9 of paclitaxel and RT.
Although I don’t have any underlying conditions the SE of taxols in particular worry me.
I appreciate we’re all individual and will have differing responses to treatment, although I wasn’t keen on having the EC at first , it has been an ok ride for me so far.
It’s a conversation I will have further with the consultant/ team.
Thankyou x
The person next to me a couple of times when I was having chemo found Pacxitaxol absolutely fine. She said she did t really feel any symptoms on it. They do constantly check in with you on how fingers and toes feel and I know people on here have iced fingers and toes with success. Is the neuropathy side effects that worry you? X