Hello troopers

[Rego-park]

My sister has been on ibrance for 2 years it stopped working she’s been givin faslodex injections , but I see a lot of you have been offered both ? What should I ask the dr we are confused help

[Contrarielle]

Hi, that is so upsetting for you both that inrance stopped working. Faslodex can be great for hormone receptor positive cancers. I was very nervous about my first couple of double injections but now I just ask the nurse to do them super slow and they've been OK and minimal side effects. Hope your sister gets great tumour control with them xo

[Rego-park in reply to Contrarielle]

Thank u 🙏

[SusieIM]

Contrarielle gave great suggestions. Self care is important, stay positive.

[PJBinMI]

I'm a long timer, with bone mets since first bc diagnosis in March, 2004, 17 plus years. One of the ways I have coped is by learning as much about bc and mbc as I can. I've attended several bc and mbc conferences and met several bc advocates and got trained as a bc advocate myself. I am not medically trained but have learned how to advocate for myself and others. There used to be an in person mbc support group connected to the cancer center 50 miles from my home, where I was treated and meeting others face to face was one of the best bc experiences I've had. Several of us got more time from Faslodex than we had from our first line treatment, Letrozole aka Femara in my case. I got over 9 years from Faslodex, starting when the standard dose was one shot, half what it is now. Ibrance and other targeted drugs for hormone receptor + mbc were not around when I began treatment and my impression is that those are not the main meds we are on at any one time, meaning the anti-estrogen med like Letrozole, Tamoxifen and Exemestane are the ones to pay most attention to as they can be given alone and often control the cancer for long periods of time. The targeted drugs aren't given alone and in clinical trials were shown to extend the average time we get from the anti-E med. I've noticed that alot of women diagnosed several years after I was often say they are on Ibrance and Letrozole rather than Letrozole and Ibrance and IMHO that is somewhat misleading about the relative importance of the two drugs. Your sister can certainly ask her onc about that and why she is off one of the targeted meds. One of the best things we can do for our selves is to see a bc specialist onc for a second opinion. In the US, the best places to do that are the "Comprehensive Cancer Centers". There is a list of those under "useful resources" on the tight side of this page under Topics. Most of the CCCs are affiliated with medical schools where bc oncs both see patients and do research. The top bc oncs that give most of the presentations at big bc conferences are affiliated at CCCs. My onc was able to get me an appt at the closest CCC within 10 days of contacting them and it was well worth the 3 + hour drive to get there. That was in the month after I was first diagnosed and I went back there a second time about 3 years ago when my first onc retired and I needed some reassurance that my new much less experienced onc was on the right track for me. I hope your sister can get all her questions answered and find peace with treatment.

[Rego-park in reply to PJBinMI]

Thank u 🙏🙏

[TammyCross]

I was on Faslodex and Ibrance for just over two years, when I had progression. I was then put on an oral SERD. I was puzzled that I am not on a targeted therapy, just an estrogen block., thinking it was the Ibrance that had been working. The results have been terrific, however -- after 2 scans and 5 months (and a scan tomorrow, producing scanxiety). One oncologist explained that the SERD worked by starving the cancer; another said "You have very little cancer in your body." So PJB is right: the anti-estrogen drugs seem most important. Faslodex failed for me, but surprisingly the oral SERD is doing a good job. Just hope it continues to do so.

[mariootsi in reply to TammyCross]

What is the name of your oral serd?

[SMPG]

Yes, I was told to continue with Ibrance and replace Letrozole with Faslodex injections.