Hi,
I was diagnosed back in April, triple positive ER8, PR8 and HER+. I have had neo adjuvant chemotherapy (Docetaxol and Carboplatin) and have been having Phesgo injections in my leg since chemo started (have had 8 in total) I had a lumpectomy 3 weeks ago and my histology results were really good -lymph nodes were clear as were the margins. Radiotherapy is planned in the next few weeks, probably 5 sessions. Also start Letrozole tomorrow.
Saw my Oncologist today and he threw me a bit of a curveball. He offered me a choice of Kadcyla to replace the Phesgo injections. It is usually given to women who either aren’t disease free after surgery and chemo or have more advanced breast cancer, but over the last year or so, they’ve started offering it to women who have early stage breast cancer with no signs of disease. It would be 14 cycles three weeks apart starting from next week. It has Trastuzumab like in the Phesgo injection but also a chemo drug Emtansine in it too. It would reset my targeted treatment from now, whereas I am nearly halfway through the Phesgo injections. The side effects look worse than for Phesgo too.
I’m wondering if anybody else has been offered this drug for early stage bc with no sign of disease and how did people find the side effects from it? After a gruelling time with chemo, suffering already with mild ME, the thought of something that will really make me fee prettyl rough again fills me with dread, but then again if it will make a big difference I know I should go for it. The studies on it are so young that it is hard to know at this stage what the benefits are though.
Also, are there any women who have a similar diagnosis and treatment plan to mine and had the 18 cycles of Phesgo and remained disease free for a significant length of time?
Such a difficult decision to make. Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Best wishes to all of you.xx