Lucie, I don’t know the answer but it does sound reasonable that a cure for MBC should be on the horizon. I know progress has been made but we need more and soon.Hang in there.
Immunotherapy (and CAR-T cell therapy) seem to be the most promising treatment advances lately. It's lacking in the solid tumor department (mainly successful for blood cancers) but it has worked (Look up Judy Perkins. She had MBC and has been NED since I believe 2016.)
Thanks a lot Paige.I'd read about this success story. Unfortunately trials will only start in 2022. They'll then need some time to analyse the results. That means it could be to late for most of us. I don't think I have 6 or 7 years to wait and see.
That's why I was hopping maybe that the work on finding the vaccine could help.
😂I know I just had my first med change and I’m doing the math like well there’s 4 more lines of treatment so hopefully 2 years a piece might get me to the 5 years until this “cure” is out...😀
Get the best of both worlds...get an integrative oncologist to work with your conventional oncologist. Try to find what is "driving" your cancer and not just treating the cancer itself. The reason I say this is because only 10 percent of breast cancer cases derive from genetics. What about the other 90 percent? I have had genetic testing and all tests came back negative.
I thought about what to do this past year to help my body heal itself. The body is resilient. Given the proper repurposed drugs, supplements, integrative doctor who can find what is driving your cancer, AND diet will create a detox and molecular support to help your body heal. Go natural. Vegan. No processed food and no animal products. Look into Turkey tail supplements and Shiaqga mushroom extracts that stimulate the creation of stem cells to boost the immune system. These extracts also protect your vital organs during chemotherapy.
I believe in supporting the body to heal itself. I am also religous. God only helps those who help themselves. What better way to lead by example than to make healthy and drastic changes to starve the cancer out of the body? Also, remember that conventional oncologists have tunnel vision; they can only treat cancers by what has been FDA approved. And the worst part about that is that there are never any guarantees that their treatment plan will work. What a let down.
I was diagnosed with stage 4 inflammatory breast cancer last year. I have been through chemo, Ibrance, Afinitor, and now on Taxotere and Cisplatin chemo combo. I am only 40 years old with a husband and an autistic son.
Started off as some bone only disease in my hips. My last oncologist knew my primary tumor was regrowing and remained laissez-faire for over a year. Now, I have a pleural effusion with a chest tube that I drain myself twice a week
Needless to say I fired that oncologist and found an AMAZING oncologist with tons more experience and is willing to work with my integrative oncologist so I can get the best of both worlds.
Moral of the story is don't limit yourself to conventional medicine. The cure is in nature. And if anyone argues that, just tell them that the active ingredient in the strongest chemotherapy drug, Taxotere, is derived from the Yew tree.
I am entering a program called Breakthrough Cancer Coaching. They use diet and integrative therapy to maximize the potential for the body to heal itself. They have wonderful and miraculous cases of women with stage 4 breast cancer who are now in complete remission. I encourage all women on this site to look into alternative treatments that aim to heal and detox the entire body so we can live full and productive lives!
Lulu4545, I pray for you and your family during these dark times you are experiencing. Please know that there is never just one path to healing. Sometimes we just have to trust God to lead us to help ourselves. I pray that you find the right treatments or combination of treatments which will lead you to be cancer free. And yes, it is possible to reach that goal. Stay strong sister warrior, listen to your instincts, and know that YOU CAN beat this. Much love and warmest well wishes to you!!
I agree that an integrative approach can be helpful. That’s what I have been doing since April 2019 and I feel great. I notice that we have a similar background. I’m 41 and have two autistic brothers, so I can completely understand your drive to do what you can to survive so that you can be there for your son. My husband, dad (who is my middle brother’s full time career) and oldest brother are my driving force to keep going and not give up.
For me, the fluid build up in the pleural space was a red flag. Nothing that chemo can't remedy, though. The catheter is only temporary until the pleural space dries out. Since I have bone mets, my doctor said bone pain is a sign of weakened bones. If this is happening to you, be extra careful. Do you get regular PET or CT scans?
I heartily agree with brake4country. There is so much we can do for ourselves to beat our cancer. An integrative oncologist will treat the whole person. Have you read the book “How to Starve Cancer” by Jane McClellan? She was given months to live in the 1990s after exhausting all the options our NHS could offer. She is still very much here and is an inspiration. Her book covers what she did and what others can do. She also now has a set of online tutorials to help people apply what she has learned to their own cancer as her protocol can apply to different types of cancer. Also there is the book Radical Hope that is so inspiring and offers support as well. Diet and lifestyle can do a lot towards remission. Good luck on your journey. We are all here with you. Xx
Again, your doctor's response that there is no evidence hints that diet and lifestyle need to be researched more. There IS validity in gut and immunity health.
I must say, I don't know what works. Diets, juicing, special diets, however even if there is no evidence that any of these work, there is also no evidence that they don't! And I don't think most will not hurt. I only try to eat healthy and depend on my body to do it's best. As my family doctor said, they are poisoning us, (meds) and hope that our bodies can tolerate it.
I have Jane's book! I firmly believe in holistic healing. Conventional medicine, to me, is so limited.
Hi Lucie,
You don’t sound desperate at all! You want to live a long and happy life. Isn’t that what we all want? Like you, I am hopeful that medical advances will provide a cure, or at least better drugs so that we can simply keep changing whenever something stops working, for many more years to come.
Yes, I understand. Ibrance was never an option for me, but I have done well on letrozole, zoladex, zometa and my off-label drugs and supplements. I want to see a lot of things change too, especially for those of us with metastatic disease. It isn’t good enough to be expected to accept that we may only have a limited time left. I want what the early stage patients are promised: a cure.
I think the researchers at BioNTec were already researching it for cancer, but were able to quickly pivot to covid. So maybe they can pivot back to cancer having gained some knowledge from covid? I’m not a scientist though so take that with a grain of salt. Lots of companies both here and in China doing a lot of research so have hope!!
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Radiation and MBC
"Your cancer may be changing course."
Fuvelstrant and IBrance, please share your experience.
