tax and ER+ tumours

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Hi all
there is a very recent study (only one so not counted as conclusive) that Taxol and related drugs might not be effective on ER+ tumours. Do people on this site have evidence of this? Have people having chemo before surgery taken tax drugs and not had ER+ tumours shrink or have they had good results?
Hope you are all having good weekends.
Jo
xx

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Hi Jo

Is this the same as Taxotere? My tumour is ER+ and I am having 2 cycles of Taxotere having already done 5 x FEC.

Although I only had he 1st Tax cycle last Friday there seems to be a reduction in my tumour and have had those “lovely” pains which make me feel it’s killing it.

Cecelia. x

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Hi Cecelia
Great news about your tumour! Taxotere isn’t exactly the same as taxol but is closely related. That study (details can be found on the Breastcancer.org website) is only one study and so I guess we should be cautious about interpretations. And so glad that the drugs are clearly working for you.
Jo
x

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HI JO
MY sister had 2 AC followed by 4 taxotere. She should have had 4 AC but a scan showed no improvement so they changed her straight over to taxotere where she did get some shrinkage.Proffesor Coleman on this site, said that oestrogen pos tumours often don’t respond so well, but says chemo is still usefull.
All the best claire

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Hi Jo

Mine was ER+ & I had 4 cycles of taxol, then EC before surgery as part of the Neotango trial. I only had 2 cycles of EC as it was thought at the time that the chemo wasn’t shrinking the tumour, so we decided to cancel the last 2 doses & go straight for surgery. My tumour started off at 4.5 cms and was being measured as 3.5 cms just before my surgery. The lab results showed it had actually shrunk to 1.6 cms & what the doctors were picking up was in fact scar tissue.

So, in my case, the oncologist was happy with the effectiveness of the chemo. I presume most of the shrinkage was down to the taxol as I only had 2 lots of EC.

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Thanks for the the feedback. Glad to see that the drugs do seem to work! I’ll presume all this is doing me good…Claire, where can I find the comments by Prof Coleman?
Jo
xx

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One more question if you are still reading this thread…Susie and Cecelia are you HER+ ? And same question about your sister Claire…
Hope all is going well with you.
Jo
x

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HI Jo

I am not HER+

Cecelia. x