chemo behavior (warning, my post may be very boring)

[katarina777]

Hi, I thought I will as a question instead of answer one today. (I really feel like having a little back and forth talk like so many have had lately, and which did not used to be the case)

I have one other wish as well. Please do not tell me to ask my oncologist, or other doctor, since I already know this, and have asked. I also know that the answers I have received are guesses, and that is OK.  (but  there are more people than doctors who have valuable information to share, and they are more free to do so as well?)

Sometimes one can get information from other people's experience, or what they know from family and friends who had/have cancer, or even another patient who shared on a forum like this. I'll take everything of course also from people who have not themselves have had cancer, and who are often so 'on top of things'.

I am undergoing chemotherapy for the third time due to advancing bc and mets. (Ixempra) Prior to that I was on Abraxane which I loved, as it immediately, as well as continually brought down my   rapidly increasing tumor markers, (from about 500-200), I felt great, had no bad side effects, and the chemo was infused in 30 minutes vs. the usual 3 hours, like the one I am now getting.

But after a few months the Abraxane stopped working, and in a matter of weeks my tumor markers went up from about 250 to 1800. (I was not able to start immediately after quitting the Abraxane because my cancer had invaded my spine, and it was so brittle with some breaks that I needed Emergency radiation first) The day I finished radiation I started the other and have now finished three treatments.

My point and question relates to the fact that my tumor markers have not gone down but slightly up. (I am not concerned about the 'slightly up' but about the 'not coming down.)

I am pretty sure that the chemo must be working somewhat and that without it my markers would be a lot higher, but then I am also wondering if maybe the chemo is not working well enough, or at all.

I wanted to know if anyone has had this experience, and how it was managed. Did your onco  switch you, and at what point?

Thanks for listening; i realize this post is long and perhaps boring as well, to many.

Katrin

[SueYoung55]

((((((((((((((gentle hugs to you)))))))))))))))

I wish I had answers but I don't. I just wanted you to know that I'm thinking of you and praying for you that you go into remission.

[katarina777]

I randomly picked that one post for 'best answer' even if it was not picked out for that purpose. I meant to give you the 'best answer' for the whole package of your resonse? kat

[bluebutterfly2222]

Here is another way to tell if a treatment is working:

"In addition, a 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."

[bluebutterfly2222]

p.s. I found this, which says the treatment  should be changed when the cancer cells becomes resistant and start to grow. (But I don't know if increase in the markers tell them that, or if they go  just by radiographic evidence...)

"In general, most women with metastatic breast cancer will be treated with several different types of therapy over the course of their disease. Over time, cancer cells become resistant to a treatment, and will begin to grow. When this happens, a change in treatment is needed. Unlike many other types of cancer, breast cancer cells can be controlled by many different types of chemotherapy, and women with metastatic breast cancer are living longer and longer. Hopefully with further research, women will no longer die of this disease in the future."