Posts tagged with 'Herceptin'

Breast cancer drug not considered cost-effective in U.K.

  • Posted on June 12, 2010 at 6:44 pm

A U.K. national health institute concluded last week that Tykerb, a new breast cancer drug that helps women with advanced breast cancer survive longer, is not cost-effective.  This decision means that about 2,000 patients in the U.K. will no longer receive the drug. My oncologist told me someone moved to my area from London to get Herceptin, another drug that is effective against breast cancer. She was not able to get it in England.

Tykerb is being tested along with Herceptin as a possible treatment for early-stage breast cancer. If it is found effective, I’m praying that the U.K watchdog institute will cover it, since early-stage intervention should be considered more cost-effective.

I’m saddened by this news, but not surprised, given the British cost-strapped government’s need to cut somewhere. Read more at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/10/uk-recommends-against-buy_n_607392.html.

Meanwhile, I’m encouraged by the fact that over 10 million cancer survivors live in the U.S.  I discovered this fact at my local Relay for Life last week. We are surviving longer and longer.

June blessings to you.

Jan

A blessed Thanksgiving

  • Posted on November 25, 2009 at 3:49 pm

Thanksgiving is a time of year to reflect on our lives and count our blessings, one by one, as the hymn goes. I have just been advised to stop taking Arimidex, an anti-estrogen daily pill I have taken for over six years. My former oncologist counseled me to stay on this pill for life, but my new doctor believes there is no further benefit, and there are even risks, in taking it longer than needed. So I will be stopping it starting in the New Year.

Since I had a recurrence two years after I got off tamoxifen in 2001, I am a bit apprehensive about discontinuing my daily Arimidex. It’s like a security blanket, but with prickly side effects. My doctor said I could take Evista (raloxifene) for a further five years to ward off my anxiety. But the possibility of experiencing deep vein thrombosis, stroke or other nasties from this tamoxifen-like drug do not seem worth it. And like Arimidex, this drug has no generic equivalent. So it would further drain my bank account as well as my estrogen.

This Thanksgiving I’m resolved to throw my fears out the window, to be grateful to God that I no longer need any adjuvant drug. I believe I’ve done all I can do to reduce my risk of another recurrence by enduring a bilateral mastectomy, two aggressive courses of chemo and a year of Herceptin.

Perhaps being off Arimidex will be like pressing the “Pause” button on my post-menopausal symptoms. Maybe my hair will have a chance to thicken and my night sweats, hot flashes and joint pain will subside. Maybe I’ll even lose weight! What a wonderful blessing all that would be. But if I don’t recover any youthful traits, that’s okay, too. My heavenly Father knows best. And for that I am the most grateful as we wrap up 2009.

A joyous and blessed Thanksgiving to one and all!

Jan

Cancer patients needed for clinical trials

  • Posted on August 4, 2009 at 5:16 pm

A recent article in the New York Times ( http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/health/research/03trials.html?_r=1&em) reports a lack of participants in clinical studies designed to test cancer drugs.  Patients cite many reasons for not volunteering, including  a dislike of additional office visits and tests, fear of being given a placebo, and additional stress on top of their basic struggles to survive treatment.

To encourage trial participation, study experts are exploring additional options.  Among their considerations  are giving doctors more incentives, improving efficiency, convincing patients that placebos are rarely used in cancer trials in the U.S., and paying patients.

As a recipient myself of treatments developed through clinical trials (including Herceptin), I strongly believe such studies are worth exploring if they are available.  In fact, in my book “Mourning Has Broken:  Reflections on Surviving Cancer,” I encourage participation in clinical trials as a way to give back to the cancer community and help future generations.  Bravo to the Italians for their early participation in chemo drug trials that paved the way for modern chemotherapy options.

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