I'm sorry to hear that you went through breast cancer and surgery, but sounds like you received some positive information that your lymph node(s) were not affected. This is great news!
You can read about the different combinations of drugs used in chemotherapy at Chemotherapy: The Ideal Combination For You. This site explains, "Your oncologist might choose a tried-and-true combination of drugs, with response rates ranging from 35–60%. These include AC, CMF, CAF, FAC, or AT (AT is six cycles of "A" for Adriamycin and "T" for one of the two taxane drugs, Taxotere or Taxol). Or your oncologist may choose a single agent such as Adriamycin, or either Taxotere or Taxol (with a response rate of 30–60%). Other combinations are also widely used, and may end up being the ideal chemotherapy combination for you."
Did your oncologist suggest any specific regimen that s/he would like to begin, or are you asking what has worked for other women?
According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), the type of chemotherapy your doctor may be recommending is called, "Adjuvant chemotherapy". This is a "systemic therapy given to patients after surgery who have no evidence of cancer spread is called adjuvant therapy. When used as adjuvant therapy after breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy, chemotherapy reduces the risk of breast cancer coming back."
Here is another list of possible drug combinations that are most commonly used from the ACS:
* CMF: cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), methotrexate (Amethopterin, Mexate, Folex), and 5-fluorouracil (Fluorouracil, 5-FU, Adrucil)
* CAF (FAC): cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin (Adriamycin), and 5-fluorouracil
* AC: doxorubicin (Adriamycin) and cyclophosphamide
* EC: epirubicin (Ellence) and cyclophosphamide
* TAC: docetaxel (Taxotere), doxorubicin (Adriamycin), and cyclophosphamide
* AC → T: doxorubicin (Adriamycin) and cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel (Taxol) or docetaxel (Taxotere)
* A → CMF: doxorubicin (Adriamycin), followed by CMF
* CEF (FEC): cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, and 5-fluorouracil (with or without docetaxel)
* TC: docetaxel (Taxotere) and cyclophosphamide
* GT: gemcitabine (Gemzar) and paclitaxel (Taxol)
Please let me know if this information is helpful, or more confusing. I'm not exactly sure how much you already know about your proposed treatment, but we can get on the same page as far as terminology (example: if you are to receive Adjuvant therapy, or ask specifically about a drug combination), then we can ask other women who have undergone this treatment what their experience has been.
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Debibynum,
I'm sorry to hear that you went through breast cancer and surgery, but sounds like you received some positive information that your lymph node(s) were not affected. This is great news!
You can read about the different combinations of drugs used in chemotherapy at Chemotherapy: The Ideal Combination For You. This site explains, "Your oncologist might choose a tried-and-true combination of drugs, with response rates ranging from 35–60%. These include AC, CMF, CAF, FAC, or AT (AT is six cycles of "A" for Adriamycin and "T" for one of the two taxane drugs, Taxotere or Taxol). Or your oncologist may choose a single agent such as Adriamycin, or either Taxotere or Taxol (with a response rate of 30–60%). Other combinations are also widely used, and may end up being the ideal chemotherapy combination for you."
Did your oncologist suggest any specific regimen that s/he would like to begin, or are you asking what has worked for other women?
According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), the type of chemotherapy your doctor may be recommending is called, "Adjuvant chemotherapy". This is a "systemic therapy given to patients after surgery who have no evidence of cancer spread is called adjuvant therapy. When used as adjuvant therapy after breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy, chemotherapy reduces the risk of breast cancer coming back."
Here is another list of possible drug combinations that are most commonly used from the ACS:
* CMF: cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), methotrexate (Amethopterin, Mexate, Folex), and 5-fluorouracil (Fluorouracil, 5-FU, Adrucil)
* CAF (FAC): cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin (Adriamycin), and 5-fluorouracil
* AC: doxorubicin (Adriamycin) and cyclophosphamide
* EC: epirubicin (Ellence) and cyclophosphamide
* TAC: docetaxel (Taxotere), doxorubicin (Adriamycin), and cyclophosphamide
* AC → T: doxorubicin (Adriamycin) and cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel (Taxol) or docetaxel (Taxotere)
* A → CMF: doxorubicin (Adriamycin), followed by CMF
* CEF (FEC): cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, and 5-fluorouracil (with or without docetaxel)
* TC: docetaxel (Taxotere) and cyclophosphamide
* GT: gemcitabine (Gemzar) and paclitaxel (Taxol)
Please let me know if this information is helpful, or more confusing. I'm not exactly sure how much you already know about your proposed treatment, but we can get on the same page as far as terminology (example: if you are to receive Adjuvant therapy, or ask specifically about a drug combination), then we can ask other women who have undergone this treatment what their experience has been.
August 30, 2009 - 6:54pmThis Comment
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