Why?
Because I’ve got all the things. Two areas of triple negative aggressive cancer in the right, pre-cancer in the left, BRCA1 gene mutation. But I think we are going to get along just fine.
But my oncologist also made me happy. We’ve decided that since only the MRI said my first tumor found was 2.1 cm and everything else says 2 cm, we can call me stage 1. It just feels better than Stage 2.
So, what did we talk about?
The known option for me is chemotherapy followed by surgery. It would be six months of treatment with chemo followed by surgery within 4-6 weeks. Recovery from surgery would be 4-6 weeks. The first 12 weeks would be one infusion of drugs every three weeks. Not too bad. The second part is the tough part. A different infusion every week until the end. That is the tried and true proven treatment for the breast cancer I have in my right side.
There might be another option. A pill called Talazoparib which is a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, or PARP. Administration of this pill would also be followed by surgery. The pill would be taken daily for 6 months. My oncologist is looking into whether this is a good option for me or not. It is part of a clinical trial.
Either way, the time frames are about the same as long as I am responding to treatment and staying healthy enough to continue.
What is a clinical trial?
A clinical trial is a test for a new drug or treatment protocol. Generally, by the time we have reached the phase of human testing, the regimen has been tested thoroughly in labs. Probably on animals. I’ll try not to think about that part.
In the case of this particular pill being used in the clinical trial, it has been tested on humans previously. I found many different trials involving this particular drug on ClinicalTrials.gov. The trial that interests me involved treatment of Stage 3 metastatic – metastatic meaning the cancer has spread – breast cancer with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. It shows good results.
The side effects are maybe less, maybe worse than chemo. It depends on how your body responds to the drug. Hair loss is still a side effect. That’s okay. I’ve been getting mentally ready for that chance to see what I look like with really short hair before it all falls out.
Basically, I’m waiting. I will fill out the paperwork to take part in the trial, but will wait for my oncologist to talk to another trusted oncologist to see if that is the best path forward for me or if I should go with chemo instead. I can withdraw from the trial at any time, so there is no obligation.
Back to waiting. Except I know this wait is short. If I want to do the trial, I have to start within 28 days of my PET scan. That’s within the next two weeks. And if we go for chemo, I may be looking at starting at the beginning of August.
I’ll let you know as soon as I know.