Discussing Breast Cancer

It’s making news headlines — The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee just approved the drug by biotech powerhouse Genentech for use in conjunction with chemotherapy to treat metastatic breast cancer.

Research has shown that use of the drug in combination with paclitaxel (Taxol) chemotherapy resulted in a 52 percent reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to those treated with paclitaxel alone — a doubling in progression-free survival.

From the Genentech press release: “There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer so it is important to control the disease as early and for as long as possible,” said Kathy Miller, M.D., Associate Professor of Medical Oncology, Indiana University School of Medicine and lead investigator on the E2100 trial. “Now with Avastin plus paclitaxel, we can increase the time a woman’s cancer is kept under control, and offer a biologic option to women who previously were limited to chemotherapies alone.”

Without boring you with the specifics of how it works, I’ll share this: Avastin works by cutting off the blood supply to the tumors. That’s one way to kill those suckers — at long last.

Meanwhile, the toxic side effects of high blood pressure and well, death, were considered by some to be too problematic and perhaps should have deterred the FDA and inhibited their decision. But let me ask you this … if you have metastatic disease, aren’t you willing to take a risk to improve your chances of survival? Aren’t you facing death head on and deserving of anything that might help you void that apparently imminent collision? Isn’t this approval going to bring us one step closer to a cure for these people that need one the most?

Imagine you have a headache … but you couldn’t take Tylenol because it was never approved since you’d be at risk of contracting a headache if you take it. That’s hypothetical and I have no idea if headaches are a side effects of Tylenol — but I hope you get my point. The fact that metastatic patients are at risk of losing their lives every day seems to outweigh every other risk of fatality, I think.

Bravo to the FDA. Bravo to Genentech — this is right along with your mission to develop drugs to address significant unmet medical needs and you know patients with metastatic breast cancer have unmet needs!

More importantly, bravo to all of you out there with metastatic disease that might benefit from this new treatment option. Bring it on!

Survivors often find themselves in the midst of depression. They’re facing their own mortality, for one. They’re tired, sick, sore … it’s tough to pick yourself up mentally when you don’t feel good physically. It’s been said that hormone fluctuations affect our mood - chemotherapy and hormone therapy reek havoc on your natural hormone levels. And it’s wintertime (here in the Northern Hemisphere at least) … and these cold, dreary days are for the birds.

You’re not alone. Up to one-third of women diagnosed with breast cancer face mood disorders of some type.

Here’s what I need to tell you: it’s important to get help. If not for yourself, for your children: Research indicates that children of depressed breast cancer patients are more likely to be concerned or anxious about their mother’s cancer and its implication for their families.

My recommendation:

(1) Talk openly about your disease with your children — the positive spin you’ll likely want to put on it for their sakes will benefit your own psyche as well.

(2) Talk openly about your disease with whoever you have around you — it’s therapeutic to share those negative emotions. Purge them, get them out, so you can put all the energy you can muster up towards your treatment. Got nobody? Comment here or on an online support site like breastcancer.org.

(3) Talk openly with a medical professional. They can prescribe medication to help manage your mental distress. This is not the time to be too proud, or too vain. Get help. Nobody should go into battle without a fully loaded arsenal. If you already take something, tell them it’s not working. They need to know.

Don’t deal with depression alone.