Lani
"Nearly 20% of women with metastatic breast cancer live five years or longer. The survival rate is 16%. This is based on statistics. Each woman is unique and her situation will also be unique." - http://imaginis.com Women's Health Resource.
stage IV breast cancer
The primary cancer has spread out of the breast to other parts of the body (metastasized) (to in this case, the liver).
- from WebMD
- "So far, treatment of stage IV breast cancer does not provide a cure for the disease. By shrinking the cancer, treatment can slow down the disease, make you feel better, and let you live longer. Although patients with stage IV breast cancer may live for years, it is usually life-threatening at some point."
- Capital Gastro forms
current treatment
The current treatment includes chemotherapy(Taxotere) in conjunction with a designer drug(Herceptin) for cells whose Hercep Test shows 60% Her2 3+. Types: adino carcinoma(liver), infiltrating duct carcinoma(breast)
- cancer.org - on trastuzumab (Herceptin)
- "Stage IV cancers have spread beyond the breast and lymph nodes to other parts of the body. While surgery and/or radiation may be useful in some situations (see below), they are very unlikely to cure these cancers, so systemic (non-targeted) therapy is the main treatment. Depending on many factors, this may consist of hormone therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapies such as trastuzumab (Herceptin) or bevacizumab (Avastin), or some combination of these treatments.
Trastuzumab may help women with HER2-positive cancers live longer if it is given with the first chemotherapy for stage IV disease. It is not yet known whether it also should be given at the same time as hormone therapy, or how long a woman should remain on therapy."
In November 2006, the FDA approved Herceptin as part of a treatment regimen.
how does herceptin work
Herceptin seems to be one of those designer drugs that just happens to drift into and bond to a target cell. In this case the target cell is called Her2.
The way Her2 wants to work is to pair up and go through the cell wall. In that orientation it provides some (mysterious) chemical signaling to the cells nucleus telling it it's time to divide and reproduce itself. Overexpression on Her2 (that there is too many of them) is what causes a healthy breast cell to go ballistic.
The plan is to bind to her2 and prevent it from pairing up and signaling the nucleus. When the herceptin binds, it not only prevents pairing and signaling, it also causes the Her2 protein to want to withdraw into the cell. In addition, the herceptin bound cancer cell is seen by the immune system as a problem cell and the immune system goes after it. Not only can the Her2 protein not signal, the whole cancer cell gets attacked.
Common side effects of Herceptin include: (from imaginis)
- Fever
- Chills
- Weakness
- Nausea (especially when given with chemotherapy)
- Diarrhea
- Increased cough
Less common side effects of Herceptin include:
- Heart problems (see explanation below)
- Loss of white blood cells (leukopenia)
- Fatigue or difficulty breathing due to a reduction of red blood cells (anemia)
chemo using Taxotere
This is a cell showing microtubule structures as it is about to divide:
The antitumor activity of Taxotere® (docetaxel) is derived from its ability to disrupt the normal process of microtubule assembly and disassembly.*,1,2
Microtubules are cylindrical structures that form the basis of the cellular skeleton and are essential to the reproduction, growth and spread of tumor cells.*,1 Normally, as a part of the mitotic process, microtubules are reorganized to form a spindle. Assembly of microtubules from tubulin requires the presence of guanosine triphosphate (GTP).*,1,2
Taxotere® binds tubulin, promoting polymerization and preventing depolymerization of microtubules in the absence of GTP.*,2 It binds to the ß-subunit of the tubulin within the microtubule, promoting the formation of stable microtubules, which form abnormal bundles that do the following:
- Resist physiologic disassembly
- Accumulate within tumor cells
- Inhibit cell proliferation leading to cell death
- chemo drug Taxotere (docetaxel)
- Taxotere (generic name, docetaxel) is a cancer drug that resembles Taxol in chemical structure. Taxotere was FDA approved in 1996 to treat advanced breast cancer in patients who have not responded well to chemotherapy with the drug, doxorubicin. In 1998, Taxotere was also approved by the FDA to treat breast cancer that has spread into other areas of the breast or to other parts of the body after treatment with standard chemotherapy. Docetaxel inhibits the division of breast cancer cells by acting on the cell’s internal skeleton. The drug is usually given intravenously (through the vein) once every three weeks. Each treatment typically takes around one hour, though the dosage will vary depending on the patient’s medical situation.
Possible side effects of Taxotere include:
- Decrease in white blood cells (leukopenia)
- Fever (often a warning sign of infection)
- Fluid retention
- Allergic reactions
- Hair loss
CellSearch CTC -a new blood test
- (Metastatic) Breast Cancer CTC test
- "A new blood test, called CellSearch CTC, shows promise in helping to manage treatment of metastatic breast cancer. The test measures the number of tumor cells circulating in a sample of blood and can immediately inform physicians if a patient's treatment is working or needs modification. Research has shown that if a patient typically has more than five CTCs in a blood sample, survival may be shorter compared to patients with no CTCs. The CTC test can help physicians monitor whether a patient's treatment by determining whether the number of cancer cells is decreasing. This information can help determine whether changes are needed in a patient's treatment. While the test is used independently-typically before each chemotherapy treatment cycle-health experts do not recommend that it replace existing tests to monitor disease progression, such as the CAT scan or PET scan. Instead, it can be a useful supplement to those tests, which are often administrated every 12 to 24 weeks. Click here to learn more about the CTC test."
Glad I've finayll found something I agree with!
