Wed 10 Jan, 2007 05:48 am
My wife has breast cancer and metastasis to bones.I have tried to look at the statistics supporting chemo and radiotherapy as effective tools against breast cancer. The oncologist said, "It will only work if you believe in it. And you must both believe in it."
This means that they are placebos. (Did you know that chemotherapy drugs have never been tested against a placebo?).
It also means that oncology is a form of faith healing.
If so can't they give my wife something less dangerous? (Chemotherapy drugs are carcinogenic.)
A highly respected doctor, who specializes in breast cancer said to me, "Breast cancer is like tuberculosis was 100 years ago. Nobody knows how to treat it."
Has anybody out there thought this through? Am I mistaken? Or should I do my best to believe in it, because then it will work.
I want to be convinced that chemo, radiotherapy, mastitis and hormonal therapy really do work. (I have a fair understanding of statistics as I took a BA and an MA in Economics.)
Can anyone guide me?
Re: Do chemo/radiotherapy really work against breast cancer?
I can't provide you with any statistical information or medical information. I have three friends who had breast cancer. They all had lumpectomies and received chemo and radiation treatments. They are all alive and cancer free. They're checked frequently.
I can understand why you would be concerned because of what the doctor said to you.
mlmorris wrote: The oncologist said, "It will only work if you believe in it. And you must both believe in it."
Kinda stunned the doctor said this.
I wish your wife well. I suspect that someone will be along later who can provide you with better, more factual information than I've been able to.
I am sorry, but if your wife has bone metastases then you are in a different world from that of those who have no metastases.
My very amateur understanding is that your wife may be able to receive treatment that is likely to prolong her life, and I am aware of new treatments coming along all the time that seem to work well with some types of metastatic breast tumours.
My friends who have had chemo etc have been given very detailed info about the likely success of treatment, down to finely differentaited percentages.
If your wife's specialist is not forthcoming about proposed treatment in great detail, I suggest you get a second opinion from someone who IS prepared to give that information.
There are also a plethora of articles and books about the subject, and your doctor should be prepared to cite to you the latest research.
I will try to get my most well informed breast cancer survivor to give me some suggested places for you to start, if that is what you want to do.
Whan you say hormone therapy, do you mean your wife has a hormone sensitive tumour, that is to be treated by tamoxifan or one of the later generations of such drugs?
If so, then hormone sensitive cancers have a good record of response, and can often, in my experience, be fended off for quite long periods.
Again, your doctor ought to be able to give you information about your wife's particular cancer.
Lord knows what part belief plays in all this, but I suspect it does play a part, given how effective placeboes often are!
Sorry if I misspoke. Didn't understand the whole situation and should have kept my mouth shut.
I do wish you and and your wife the best possible outcome.
Dlowan's comments are right on.
I'm a bc survivor, but did not have metastatic ca, so my own information wouldn't apply, except that my bc surgeon in particular, followed by my oncologist radiologist, were both very informative with statistics at the time, now several years ago.
I do have anecdotal evidence for you in that a good friend of a good friend had stage 4 breast ca, had a double mastectomy, chemo, (probably - I don't now remember) radiation, and a stem cell transplant (if that is the right phrase). I also don't remember what order she had those in. That was seven or eight years ago that she was supposed to be a goner, and she is still riding horses and a successful artist. I don't know, though, that her metastasis was to the bone.
Do you live near any major breast cancer facility?
Mlmorris--
Welcome to A2K.
Obviously you and your wife are going through very difficult times. My breast cancer was caught before it spread further than my lymph nodes. This was six years ago and thanks to chemo and radiation treatment I'm alive today.
I'm guessing that your wife's doctor was talking about the importance of an intangible "will to live". Optimism is a powerful cancer treatment, particularly for the patient and for the people she depends on.
Good luck.
Here is what my researching friend said:
Susan Love's Breast Book is a great general reference on breast cancer, even though it's now 6 years old I would recommend it to everyone because it's so comprehensive. She also has a website which is very useful. There are different treatments depending on the type of cancer and the newest is probably herceptin for HER 2 ?types - they have just finished the clinical trials for this. I think anything newer would still be at the clinical trial stage and there would probably be something useful on the net.
Here is the web site:
http://www.susanlovemd.com/
I wish you both health and happiness.
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