hi ladies
I seems to get confused by this as some people have a similair dx as me seems to have 3 FEC+3TAX… but some of us just have 6 FEC… My dx wa triple negative, 1.9cm tumour, no nodes involed, grade 3… I wonder if anyone have a similar dx but been on same/ different treatment? if so what is the advantage of 3FEC+3TAX?
thanks
Im having 3x FEC and 3x TAX. I think this is cos my tumor was very big and had a mastectomy. It also spread to my lymph nodes to so had them taken out. My tumor was grade 3 invasive.
Hi Avonlea
Same as Emelf - I had 3 FEC and 3 TAX. My tumour ws grade 3 and large. I think people are given Tax especially if it has spread to their lymph nodes.
Hi, I had 6 FEC and my tumour was grade 2 with one lymph node involved. My friend had tax and hers was grade three.
I had 4xfec,4xtax.My tumour was 2.4cm,grade3 triple neg with node involvement.
FEC and taxotere work in different kinds of ways on cancerous cells, so basically the thinking about giving 3 of FEC and 3 of taxotere is that it increases chances hat one of the chmeowill work. There is some research that shows slightly better prognosis (statistically) with FEC plus taxotere than FEC alone in node positive cancer. Giving 3+3 is a relatively new in the UK. I did get taxotere after AC in 2004 but at that time there were a handful of us on these boards havinga taxotere.
Different hopsitals adopt different protocols (postcode lottery) so you could quiz your oncologist on this decision, particularly as some oncologists prefer to give 3+3 to all triple negatives.
None of us ever knows for sure whether treatments will work for us (some people respond very well to FEC and not at all to taxotere and vice versa). At the end of the day I think we just have to do the best we can for ourselves given the present state of knowledge.
best wishes
Jane
Hi there,
my dx was 15mm, grade 3, no nodes involved, triple neg with treatment of epi / cmf.
Having opted for the TACT 2 trial I am on the “arm” being given accelerated epi and xeloda.
I cannot answer your question sorry, I too am confused as to the difference in the treatments given.
Take care x
Hi There
I think you are more likely to get Tax if you are Her 2+ and I think there is something somewhere about Herceptin working better with Tax as there is usually a couple of infusions overlap of having both.
Hi
I had 3 FEC then 3 TAX. I’m Triple negative, 15mm, grade 3 with 1 node out of 12 affected. I was told it was due to the fact I am triple negative that I got TAX.
Anita
Hi
I had grade 2,17mm,1node positive and had 3fec / 3tax.And was told as Jane said that it increases the chance that one of the chemos would work.
love best wishes mellx
Hi, this was the question in my mind today…I had 3 fec and today I was to have my 4th but onc decided that I need 3 tax and spent half a day hospital came back home with no treatment , so this Wednesday I am going to have my first tax and really worried how I will react to this medication.
My tumour was 3.5 cm grade 2 and only shrunk about 0.6cm with 3 fec so thats why I am having 3 tax now. I am hoping tax will reduce the size of tumour and it will be worth going through all the side effects. I have no idea about my node involment as I haven’t had any test done for this yet I will have it when I have my lumpstectomy and node sampling. Has anyone had surgery and node sampling same time?
Best wishes to you all
Gul
Hi Gul!
Yes most people have the node sampling at the same time as the surgery. I had a Sentinal Node Biopsy ( a radioactive and a blue dye injected in which shows up the main lymph nodes for the surgeon) and a lumpectomy together.
Best Wishes.
I was triple neg grade2 2cm no no nodes involved[node sampling].I had 4x FEC 4xTax and 15 rads after a lumpectomy which gave 6mm clear margins and showed no vascular invasion.Not sure why I had 4+4 as opposed to 3+3.
Hi Horace,I had 4+4 as well.I’m wondering if it is the same amount of chemo spread over a longer period or just extra chemo.I was on a trial so I took what they could give!
I wondered that too as they gauge the amount by weight and I am overweight so maybe they spread it to make it tolerable.
ANYONE HAVING TAX , I ACHE EVERYWHERE DOES THIS GO ON CONTINUALLY OR DOES IT FADE AT THE MOMENT I FEEL TERRIBLE ANYONE HAVE SIMILAR SYMTOMS. OR DOES IT GET WORSE AND THE OLD WATER WORKS, ARE STARTING TO FEEL I HAVE SISTITUS, HORRIBLE IM DRINKING PLENTY WATER HAY HO, JUST HAVE TO GET ON WITH , ON MY FIRST OF 3, DOES 2 AND 3 GET WORSE WORRIED ABOUT CHISTMAS IAM HOPNG I CAN ENJOY IT , WISHFUL THINKING .LOVE MARYSIAX
Horace,I dont think so as I’m quite slim and my friend on the same chemo as me was quite petite!
Hi Marysia! I was very good on taxol - practically sailed through it.just got tired towards the end.The aches and pains started AFTER chemo finished! At times I felt as if I’d been hit by a bus.It took about 12-18mths before they went completely.Do keep drinking plenty of water otherwise you could be left prone to bouts of cystitis…Good luck with the rest of your chemo.
hI MARYSIA
Sorry you are not feeling well hope things goes better later.
Laidies thanks for the threads. It seems that if node is involved you are more likely to have TAX. But some of us are ttriple negative no node involved also seems to have TAX.
I am triple negative, node clear and having FEC only. - why was i not offered TAX? I am a bit confused now.
I will check with my onc later and see what she’d say about this…
thanks
I had 4 x FEC and 4 x TAX (triple neg, 5 cm, grade 3, no node involvement) prior to surgery and my tumour shrunk considerably with the FEC with a slower response with the TAX (reduced to about 2 cms which was sucessfully removed with WLE and I start radiotherapy tomorrow).
Regarding the aching Marysia - I always felt OK for the first 2 days following treatment and then had flu-like symptoms for the next 5 days or so (plus really bad taste problems which upset me more than the aching - I mean, what’s the point if you can’t enjoy your food !!). I then went back to ‘normal’ until the next dose. I did have fairly bad fatigue but still managed to work 2 weeks out of the 3. Hope the aching soon passes. .
Good luck everyone with your various treatments
Sarah
x
dear Marysia I had terrible pain with the first taxotere and GP came out and gave me diflenac[Voltarol] and co-codamol which checked it but didnt cure it.It lasted about 5 days.Then I had virtually no pain at all with the rest of tax.My worst side effects were the cumulative weakness and terrible breathlessness.