Hi everyone, I’m new here but may I join you? I’m just over halfway through treatment for breast cancer, stage 3, Her2+, diagnosed last May.
@merlotbythefire and @bontopia I’ve just started Kadcyla treatment following my mastectomy in December. Prior to that, I had 4 rounds of EC chemo, then 4 of docetaxel + Herceptin/Perjeta, and 2 of Herceptin/Perjeta. The oncologists have switched me to Kadcyla because there were some residual cancer cells in the breast tissue that was removed, plus one lymph node. When they told me this post-surgery, I was utterly despondent at the idea of having yet more IV treatment/pre-chemo blood tests when I’d been hoping to ‘just’ have three-weekly Herceptin injections until September. But I’ve since reasoned that because the Herceptin etc wasn’t as effective for me, it’s lucky that this new treatment is available. I started immunotherapy last September so, as bontopia says, my Kadcyla is a continuation of that, on a three-weekly cycle, and will end this September.
It’s great to hear from @ClaireMil that the treatment was tolerable. I’ve only had one cycle so far (no. 2 is tomorrow), but afterwards I was fine apart from a headache that lasted a few days (but that could have been coincidental). Since then I’ve had no ill effects from it - though for me, I think anything would be a walk in the park compared with the docetaxel! They did the infusion over 1.5 hours and kept me in for 1.5 hours to check I had no reactions (I had none) but from tomorrow, the infusions will only take 30mins.
The oncologist has assured me that Kadcyla should be well-tolerated because it’s a targeted therapy - he explained that it’s Herceptin with chemo molecules added to it, so it delivers them straight to any cancer cells. Three weeks after my first dose, my regrowing hair/brows/lashes certainly seem to be staying put, thank goodness.
Merlot, regarding your surgery, I was a FF cup. I asked about having a double mastectomy, but the surgical team were very reluctant to remove the healthy breast. I could have tried to argue my case further, but the reconstructive surgeon offered to reduce the healthy breast at the same time as doing my DIEP recon. I was lucky to have this done in December, just before COVID restrictions tightened again, but it might be worth asking if this could be an option for you?
That was really long, sorry! But I hope it helps. I’m still navigating my own way through this arduous series of treatments - next for me is radiotherapy, in March - but I’m happy to help anyone based on my experiences so far. I unfortunately had emergency surgery for a haematoma three weeks after my DIEP, so post-surgical stuff is particularly fresh in my mind!
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