Brachytherapy for breast cancer
Brachytherapy for breast cancer | don’t know how many of us have full sat t.v., but I watched a fascinating programme this morning, on the Zone Reality channel , which is being filmed at Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre in Toronto., Canada. Apparently they are the first hospital to do brachytherapy for breast cancer - on a young woman of 35 yrs old,who had a mastectomy, and they thought this treatment was better than our normal rads. I have a male friend in Omaha, Nebraska who has prostate cancer and he had bracytherapy some 5 years ago. He is doing fine. The docs implant a string of radioactive seeds around the tumour, that release over time. My husband has an elevated PSA (prostate specific antigen) and has had two very painful biopsies, although no cancer has been detected as yet, so I am always on the lookout for painless, and less invasive treatments than surgery and chemo.
I think this is a great step forward towards treating bc after surgeries, without the problems/long term side effects of normal rads.
Liz.
Hi
Yes it’s good when a new treatment not only improves the chances of recovery but also means less radical treatment for women.
Yet more good news on this front yesterday following the announcement that Zoladex seems to be as successful as chemotherapy in improving survival rates in pre-menopausal women. I’m feeling a bit smug about that because | insisted that my oncolgist prescribe it instead of tamoxifen. I’m aware that the study showed that combining the two drugs gave even better results but zoladex appears to have none of the carcinogenic properties of tamoxifen.
sharon
Zoladex news anyone? hi Sharon,
I was diagnosed with breast cancer 18 months ago at 41 yr old. Had a mastectomy and axillary lymph gland clearance followed by FAC chemo regime which left me really depleted. I turned down taking Tamoxifen as I wasn’t strongly ER +ve as I felt that I had been through enough and just couldn’t face the thought of more side effects.
I heard about Zoladex on the news last night and I would be interested in knowing a bit more about it. Hence I came on this site. My oncologist hasn’t mentioned it as an alternative. I would love to hear about your experience and anyone elses of being prescribed it and taking it.
Thanks very much,
Rob
For robbie Hi Rob
If you would like more information on zoladex breast cancer care produce a fact sheet which you may find useful. It can be down loaded from the following link:-
breastcancercare.org.uk/docs/zoladex_sept_06_0.pdf
I hope you find this helpful.
Best wishes
On-line Forum Host
Breast cancer care
For Robbie re Zoladex Hi Robbie
You said that you were reluctant to take Tamoxifen and were wondering about Zoladex and anybody’s experiences of taking it! I was prescribed Zoladex before I started my chemo, rather than at the end of my treatment. I was told that this was to shut down my ovaries in an attempt to preserve them! It has stopped my periods and to begin with caused quite alarming ‘menopausal’ type symptoms. Hot flushes and a crampy stomach. However these didn’t last long and now I have no effects from it at all.(although I am still having chemo so any effects I would probably attribute to that. )
The worst thing about Zoladex is the very large needle, which has to be inserted into the stomach…not pleasant! I have mine monthly, but they do have a 3 monthly alternative.
Based on my experience I would recommend it, it now causes no problems that I am aware of and the needle is better than a cannula/drip, less painful and very quick!
Hope this answers your question in part
Nicky
Thank you Nikki, for sharing your experience with me.
My peroids stopped during chemo and I didn’t really suffer menopausal symptoms…but I was wreaked by the chemo! The oncologist thought I had a small chance of my periods returning at my age, but 6 months later they did come back. The GP has since tested and I am not going through the menopause. Hence now that I’m feeling alot better generally I am considering whether I should be thinking about minimising my oestrogen levels.
I hope all goes well with your treatment.