Clinical Trial

So after my post-op appointment I am cleared for take off to Oncology. I decided to go with my Mom's oncologist since she raved about her and it felt comforting to go to someone known rather than meet another new stranger. She is very sweet and patient and answers all of my questions.

She didn't hesitate to tell us that I qualified for a clinical trial. As a triple negative high risk sub-type, they are still researching alternative treatment options. I read about "beta blockers," but I found out that project fizzled without dramatic results. The trial in question for me included 3 groups, with the last experimental drug group including Avastin. I knew nothing about it, so I of course went home and googled. Avastin is a newer highly controversial drug that while helpful in treating brain and colon cancers, it hasn't proven good results in metastatic breast cancer. The FDA has actually started moving to take the drug off the market for breast cancer. When I confronted the clinical trial nurses about this, she asked if I had read anything about the benefits. Only then did it occur to me that I was so focused on the negative, I bypassed any notion of a good reason to consider the drug. It turns out that while Avastin may not be beneficial to patients with advanced breast cancer, the early stage groups have been showing a lower rate of recurrence. Avastin can potentially keep cancer from coming back when it's been surgically removed. Apparantly the name of the game with triple negative is to keep it from coming back sooner than later. If I can reach the 4 year mark, I could hypothetically be home free. This changed my outlook completely, and I signed right up. I was also comforted to know the side effects would be low if any, so that made me feel better too.

I did my labs and submitted my consent and two weeks later ended up in group two. I was dissapointed at first, but I was also relieved to only have to endure 2 drugs rather than 3. Group 1 included Taxotere, Cytoxin and Adriamycin for 18 weeks. Group 3 included those two plus Avastin for an entire year. Group 2 is simply Cytoxin and Taxotere for 18 weeks. Since my cancer was only stage 1 with no spreading, my Dr. agrees this regimine followed by radiation should be enough to do the trick.