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Neoadjuvant PLUS adjuvant chemotherapy?
byo_boy
Member Posts: 39 ✭
Hi everyone,
As my wife's neoadjuvant chemotherapy draws to a close we've been looking more forward to surgery / radiation, however her breast care coordinator dropped a new bit of information last week that, depending on the pathology of her tumour, she may require additional chemotherapy after surgery. This was a bit of a bombshell, since it's the first time we've heard anything about this being a thing and although the coordinator said that "it's a good thing, since it gives us more options", it doesn't feel like a good thing. We've been steadily working through this process for the last 4 months assuming that we'll get to the finish line and be able close the book on chemo and move on, but now it looks like we have an uncertain pathway again.
I'd love to hear from anyone who's had this experience of getting through months of neoadjuvant chemotherapy only to find out that they needed more after surgery. What were the circumstances that drove that decision and what did the adjuvant portion of chemotherapy look like? Was it months of the same again, or a different regime? I get that everyone's different and your circumstances may not be exactly the same, but I'd appreciate any input so we can feel more informed and plan appropriately.
Thanks!
George
As my wife's neoadjuvant chemotherapy draws to a close we've been looking more forward to surgery / radiation, however her breast care coordinator dropped a new bit of information last week that, depending on the pathology of her tumour, she may require additional chemotherapy after surgery. This was a bit of a bombshell, since it's the first time we've heard anything about this being a thing and although the coordinator said that "it's a good thing, since it gives us more options", it doesn't feel like a good thing. We've been steadily working through this process for the last 4 months assuming that we'll get to the finish line and be able close the book on chemo and move on, but now it looks like we have an uncertain pathway again.
I'd love to hear from anyone who's had this experience of getting through months of neoadjuvant chemotherapy only to find out that they needed more after surgery. What were the circumstances that drove that decision and what did the adjuvant portion of chemotherapy look like? Was it months of the same again, or a different regime? I get that everyone's different and your circumstances may not be exactly the same, but I'd appreciate any input so we can feel more informed and plan appropriately.
Thanks!
George
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Comments
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Hi @byo_boy, did she mention what type of chemotherapy? Since I started my treatment they've added abemaciclib to my treatment plan, which is now being given to women with early stage high grade breast cancer, it's a tablet taken twice a day for 2 years. It's not a traditional chemo drug, I think it's a more target treatment.
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Hi @Katie46 - thanks for the message.
No, we've not had any indication of what type of chemotherapy it would be if it's required, however I think we'll probably find out after the pathology comes back post-surgery. Honestly, our initial reaction was to assume it'd be more outpatient infusion stuff like what we've had already with more hair loss and all the other full-on side-effects; we hadn't actually considered that it might be in tablet form and not as "involved" as the ACT regime we've been going through.
I will make sure to ask when we see our team this Friday though - that's really great info, thank you!
George0
