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I was out for dinner last night with some cancer survivors. Two of them questioned the effectiveness of Taxol for BC Mets. They read about this but cannot remember where they read it. Has anyone heard of this?
Cancer Taxol Avastin Cyclophosphamide Breast cancer Taxotere Chemotherapy Ellence Adriamycin Docetaxel Paclitaxel
I have heard of this but I'm waiting for more information. What I do know is I am on Taxol, Avastin and Zometa and my lymph nodes that had enlarged when the cancer came back, have dimished in size and there are no new ones. I had a CAT scan and bone scan on the 30th of July and I'm waiting for the results of my bone scan to see if there are any new places in my bones and the details of the CAT scan.
I go in on Monday to meet with the doctor and get my next series of chemo.
Is this maybe what your friend heard?
Home » General Information » News
Maintenance Taxol® Does Not Improve Survival in Metastatic Breast Cancer
By CancerConsultants.com
Researchers from Spain affiliated with the TASMAN clinical trial have reported that maintenance Taxol® (paclitaxel) administered after induction with Taxol and Ellence® (epirubicin) does not improve progression-free survival. The details of this study were presented at the 2009 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in May/June.[1]
The role of maintenance therapy in women with metastatic breast cancer is unresolved. Over the past one or two decades the concept of maintenance chemotherapy has fallen out of favor due to concern about toxicity and the development of chemotherapy resistance and compromising second-line salvage therapy. Most patients with metastatic breast cancer probably do not receive maintenance chemotherapy. However, there has been recent revived interest in maintenance therapy with the development of targeted agents and monoclonal antibodies where toxicity and resistance concerns are less of a problem.
There has also been recent interest in continuous (metronomic) administration of Adriamycin® (doxorubicin), cyclophosphamide, and Taxol (AC-P) for the treatment of breast cancer. Metronomic administration allows for lower doses of therapy to be administered without a prolonged drug-free break with lower toxicities. Laboratory analysis has indicated that metronomic administration may enhance apoptotic effects of therapy, and trials continue to evaluate the efficacy of this approach. However, researchers from Canada have reported that the use of low-dose Taxotere® (docetaxel) on a weekly basis plus Xeloda® (capecitabine) on a daily basis provided benefit for a significant portion of patients with anthracycline-refractory metastatic breast cancer (see related news). This approach has not been extensively evaluated as a maintenance strategy.
The current study involved 180 women with metastatic breast cancer who received three courses of Ellence followed by three courses of Taxol administered every 21 days. Patients were randomly allocated to receive no further therapy or maintenance Taxol administered every week until disease progression.
Median progression-free survival was 8 months for the no-maintenance group and 12 months for the maintenance group.
Median overall survival was 24 months for both arms of the study.
These authors concluded that weekly Taxol maintenance did not improve outcome of patients with metastatic breast cancer.
Comments: There will undoubtedly be other studies of different maintenance strategies involving targeted agents, monoclonal antibodies or metronomic strategies in women with metastatic breast cancer.
Reference:
[1] Mayodomo JI, Abena JM, Cirera L, et al. Final results of a randomized trial on the role of maintenance chemotherapy with weekly paclitaxel for patients with metastatic breast cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2009;27:15s, (Supplement;abstract 1001).
I googled "news on Taxol for breast cancer' and received
several new studies on various forms of Taxol and at various stages of breast cancer ... looks like interesting reading.
Common chemotherapy drug triggers fatal allergic reactions
http://cancerfocus.org/common_chemotherapy_drug_triggers_fatal_allergic_rea ctions/46410
Thanks, Ladies, for the response. Guess I'll do some more reading as well. The article you sent was not very impressive.
Regarding Taxol, I can only attest to my personal response. Initially, I received AC/Taxol as first round chemo. The Taxol was given once every 3 weeks. I had a recurrence 3 months after this treatment. Next I received Navelbine/Herceptin for about 18 months, with good control. The breast cancer progressed on this protocol, so my oncologist switched me to Taxol and Herceptin once a week. She said that Taxol once a week is almost like a different drug when compared to Taxol once every 3 weeks. I had good control of the cancer for about a year on Taxol. Thus, the Taxol seemed to offer me good control of the recurrent breast cancer, for a period of time.
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