I am 30 years old and was recently diagnosed with stage 3 TNBC (lump >4cm, 4+ lymph nodes involved). It is quite aggressive. My oncologist has proposed carboplatin/paclitaxel, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide (EC) + pembrolizumab (Immunotherapy) for treatment. I believe this is the Keynote-522 regimen.
I have some reservations about the anthracycline (epirubicin) and alkylating agents (cyclophosphamide) due to the long-term effects on sexual health, fertility, and the high chance of early menopause.
Does anyone know of any alternative chemo regimens or integrative medicine that are free of the harsh drugs strongly responsible for long-term fertility and sexual health dysfunction?
Keynote 522 is the gold standard for stage 2 and 3 TNBC and will give you the best chance of a cure. I wouldn’t mess around with TNBC, it’s a beast.
I got diagnosed with stage 2a TNBC back in February and took the whole lot of treatment.
I am late 40s and have already completed my family though, so I can understand the fertility worry in your circumstances. It has put me into menopause, but I’ve heard if you’re younger your periods often return and then fertility is fine.
Hello- just saw this, and wanted to say im really sorry your facing this on top of your cancer diagnosis.
I cant help on alternative chemos. Has your oncology or surgical team spoken to you about fertility treatment? I declined (also triple neg), as i already have two kids, but they were very positive that egg/embryo freezing could be pushed through before chemo if that could be an option for you?
Though i have no direct experience of this, i have a friend who had triple neg in her late twenties. She had her eggs frozen before treatment (chemo/surgery). Ten years on, she has two lovely daughters and a very happy and cancer free life! So i hope that gives you hope for the future. Triple neg, for all its bad points, also means that you dont have the hormonal considerations of other breast cancers when planning pregnancy.
I’m just heart broken you have to deal with this can I just quickly say f*ck cancer!!!
I dont know about alternative chemotherapy and for me the thought of a less researched approached terrified me. I wanted what had the best chance of beating the cancer. However my cousin had a best friend many years ago who found she had breast cancer in her very early 20s. They gave her aggressive chemotherapy and she was put on tamoxifen for 10 years. During the 10 years she decided she wanted children, came off the tamoxifen and got pregnant! She has 3 children. She goes straight back on the tamoxifen after. Im not saying this would work for anyone else and I certainly would not expect you to base your decisions on our personal experiences here. But the story of my cousins friend reminds me how resilient our bodies can be. Keep asking questions, particularly to the professionals and you will find the right answer for you
I am sorry you have been diagnosed with tnbc at such a young g age. It’s awful facing treatment decisions that also have possible life consequences.
I have stage 4 tnbc. It had spread to my liver despite being small and with no lymph node involvement. My oncologist always says tnbc is tricky.
It’s good that your cancer is PD-L1 positive and can be treated with pembrolizumab. That became my life saver as I was able to have it in the metastatic setting and achieved a full remission. Interestingly in the metastatic setting, the protocol is pembro plus paclitaxel or NAB-Paclitaxel. That might be because people will usually have had EC as part of their primary treatment (as I had).
The drug combination you have been offered is the approved treatment protocol and I think it’s difficult for oncologists to deviate unless part of the treatment is contra-indicated for health reasons. It might be possible to skip the EC part but whether that’s possible, or even wise, is something only your oncologist would be able to advise on.
Hello lovely, I was 39 when diagnosed with TNBC. I had the same treatment you’ve been given and a year on my periods have returned. I was given zoladex to shut down and protect my ovaries in case I wanted children at a later date. If I was your age I would have frozen my eggs. So there’s few things to think about but I personally went with all the advice given so I could get rid of the cancer.
