Hi
I have secondary cancer in my liver and am on Femara (letrozole) only
this worries me as you all seem to have SIRT and FEC, and i don’t even know what this is.Can you tell me?
am i just on this because before secondaries I was a grade 1, or am I being under treated?
Hi Noz – I’ve posted a reply in your thread in “Current Issues & Topics”. Marilyn x
Hi Noz
I always hesitate to offer any advice on treatment because we each cancer behaves so differently. The only thing I would say is that more is not always better. Many of us are ‘just’ on aromatase inhibitors. I have secondaries in liver and lungs and have been on arimidex for almost 3 years. I have stable disease, very few side effects and pretty much a normal life. All those other more aggressive treatments are there in reserve and I’m sure I’ll experience most of them at some point but if you have a treatment that works there is not necessarily any benefit in having additional, often less liveable therapies. I know it’s hard to believe that one tiny pill can have such a huge effect but if it works it can often work very well and for quite some time.
Hope this helps!
Barbara
Hi Noz
Think Barbara is giving you really good advice here and hopefully it will reassure you a little at least. I am someone who unfortunately has had to have a lot of treatment over the last 2 - 3 years since secondary dx (and even more since my primary dx 7 1/2 years ago). I have had both FEC (a combination of 3 chemotherapy drugs) and SIRT - Selective Internal Radiation Therapy - which is a localised treatment for the liver. I think I am the only person on the forums who has been given SIRT(if I’m wrong, I apologise and would love to compare notes with you!), so it certainly isn’t the case that everyone else is being offered something that you aren’t.
For me it has always been trying to find something - be it a hormonal treatment like Femara, a chemo like FEC or a treatment like SIRT - that holds things for as long as possible with the minimum impact on my life. And then I move onto the next thing. If the hormonal treatments work for you (unfortunately they don’t seem to for me - have tried 5 now) then often they are the best option because you tend to get fewer side effects and so can lead a “more normal” life.
I would suggest you speak to your onc again (or GP or BCN if you have one) and ask about how they are going to monitor whether the Femara is working for you and - if it would help you (and this is where we are all different in what we want to know when) - what they plan should it not work.
Hope that helps - and that Femara does indeed work for you and hold everything at bay for many years! And ditto for Barbara with arimidex.
Take care. Kay
Thank you for your helpful comments.
My liver does seem to be responding to Femara at present.although i keep being told It won’t work ‘forever’ and my disease WILL come back.
as you say I am Ok at present on this, and feel OK.
Can I ask if you think this maybe because my original cancer and my present one were both grade 1 the lowest I believe…however still managed to spread to my liver! But maybe not as aggressive??
Noz
Hi Noz
My cancer was grade 3, it has come back, and, I have secondaries, So i belive it does not matter what grade it is, You have grade 1 me grade 3 but we both have secondaries xxxxx
With Love Julie x
Hiyah,
I have secondaries also and am only on femara have been on it for just over two years now and it seems to be working a treat. I also had a oopherectomy april 08, so have hot flushes amd night sweats but other than that i have little side effects from the femara. I can recommend it, but like someone has already said we are all treated very differently depending on our disease.
Keep your chin up and we are all here to help.
fayjay :o)
Hi thanks for the support
I feel very well on femara …other than the terrible nigh sweats, but am happy to put up with this when i know it could be so much worse. its good to feel that you are not alone in the treatment you are having
hi noz
I am on femara only and zometa drip because I have bone mets. I was diagnosed in July 2009 with primary and secondaries in my hip and spine. My cancer is grade 2. I have not had any kind of chemo but had a good response so far to the femara. My onc keeps saying that i will need chemo at some time in the future but she wants to delay it as long as possible. That suits me fine as I think that way maximises the time I will be here.
good luck with it
Julie x
Also forgot to say you could try acupuncture for the night sweats it helped me immensely
X
I’m on femara only, plus a monthly zometa drip for bone mets. Have been on Femara since dx in July 2008, and just seem to have been feeling better and better. All the nasty bone and rib pain has been absent for some months now, so maybe hang in there and wait for the improvements. Like the other gals, the onc says ‘it won’t work forever’ but is hopeful that it will continue to be effective. They don’t do any scans etc - just blood tests (all fine) and ask me how I am. Just one pill a day, and I have a very good quality of life, although get tired easily - but that seems to be the only significant side effect.
Thanks for all your comments…i will try acupuncture.
It is really helpful to have contact with people on the same treatment. My last scan was almost claer, so at the moment it is working. i was also told I will eventually need chemo, as you have been Julie, but I have been told that other similar drugs such as tamoxifen can be tried before moving to chemo, so may be the same for you all?
anyway as you say if we are Ok on femara at present lets hope it stays that way for a while
Nx