Advanced Breast Cancer

Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 4:08 pm

Breast Cancer Metastasis To Lung

The rest of the day is spent cleaning the house and doing the laundry with an hour to spare at the local gym.

After taking a shower, Jenny felt some pain the breast. This could be just menopause symptom so there was no need to worry. The pain got worse the next few days and sensing this was something else, finally decided to visit the doctor.

The doctor was a family friend. The initial diagnosis was done by touching the breast followed by a scan using a mammogram.

There were a lot of cancer cells present so another test had to be done. The doctor had to be sure so a sample was extracted and sent to a pathologist for analysis. After testing, it was only then that a woman’s greatest fear has become a reality. Jenny was diagnosed with breast cancer and this was already on the 3rd stage.

The third stage means the cancer has grown to more than 5 cm. in size and has spread to other parts of the body. This leaves removing the breast useless since the disease can no longer be contained.

Can there still be hope for Jenny who is already in the advanced stage of breast cancer? The truth is, the chances of recovery are very difficult.

Being informed of breast cancer is a shocking experience. There were some initial signs of disbelief then acceptance. The doctor explained everything to Jenny including the treatments available and the survival rates.

This was going to be Jenny’s greatest battle and this was just the beginning of a long struggle.

Chemotherapy was the best option now. The drugs produced some side effects like nausea and skin rashes but Jenny just thought this was short term since there is something bigger growing inside the needed to be killed.

Both Jenny and the doctor went ahead with removing the breast with a procedure called a mastectomy. Since modern medicine can have this reconstructed, this was a small price to pay. To make sure that all the cells had been wiped out, radiation therapy followed.

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Jenny was happy to hear that the cancer was gone nearly a year after the diagnosis was done. Some people say this was a miracle since the battle which had taken so much was finally won. There was a huge party and everyone who prayed and supported were there to celebrate a second chance at life.

The doctor pointed out that the cancer can recur. This is the reason that Jenny still had to visit the clinic often for therapy and tests to make sure everything was wiped out.

Advanced breast cancer is sometimes hard to tell. A self examination at home is not enough which is why the patient should go to the doctor for a checkup once or twice a year.

There are a lot of people who die of breast cancer and a significant number are also diagnosed every year. The person can fight hard like Jenny did or simply give up to the disease.

Until a cure is found, the only thing people can do is work on the options and hope that a miracle will happen.

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Herceptin - why is it licensed for use of advanced but not early breast cancer?

Please explain simply

Also why is it so expensive to trial/produce?

It is not only for advanced breast cancer. I and many thousands of women are taking Herceptin for early stage breast cancer.

It was INITIALLY only for advanced breast cancer. That's because the first clinical trials were performed with metastatic cancer patients. The drug was approved for these patients, then further studies were performed on early breast cancer patients.

You are probably looking at outdated information.

It takes many many years and costs drug companies a lot of money to develop new treatments and bring drugs to market. Drug companies are in business to make profits. They are recovering the development costs of Herceptin now, before the treatment goes generic.

Many Faces of Advanced Breast Cancer