On November 5, 2013 my mother's story of living with cancer began...
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Articles/Documents 2007 Guidelines for Patients: Breast Cancer http://www.nch.org/medical-services/breast-center/pdf/acs_breastcancer.pdf 2011 NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Breast Cancer http://www.nccn.org/patients/guidelines/breast/index.html Chemotherapy Game-Changer for Stage 4 Cancer http://www.envita.com/cancer/finally-chemotherapy-game-changer-for-stage-cancer Healthline article The Effects of Chemotherapy on the Body http://www.healthline.com/health/cancer/effects-on-body Chemo beginning December 3, 2013:
Trastuzumab (Herceptin) for the HER2+ protein Docetaxel (Taxotere); Pertuzumab (Perjeta); and Pegfilgrastim (Neulasta) as the chemo agents (adjuvants?) Dexamethasone (Decadron), steroid Frequency: 4 cycles of one infusion every three weeks Chemo beginning March 26, 2014 Drugs proposed are the combination FEC: *Fluorouracil (5FU): inhibits cell growth *Epirubicin (Ellence): stops the enzymes that support cell reproduction; it damages the cell by altering its membranes; and it stops cell reproduction by attaching itself to the cell’s DNA, which then gets tangled up and is unable to replicate itself *Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan): sticks to the cell’s DNA, like Epirubicin, preventing it from replicating; inhibits DNA replication and initiates cell death Given for node positive cancer, which is NOT the case here. Huh?? Frequency: 3 cycles of one infusion every three weeks Information on this combination of drugs is available here: http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/78/10888/chemo-faqs-fec/ To look up any cancer drug, you can look here: http://www.cancer.gov/drugdictionary?cdrid=41657 |