Whac-A-Mole

Well, this past week was a scan week... I had my latest PET scan on Tuesday, and got the results on Thursday. As has become the "norm," the results were mixed once again.

The good news is that the cancer in my liver is "markedly" improved. Wahoo! The areas in the lymph nodes in my neck are also improved, which Dr. Sara already knew from his clinical exams.

However, there are some cancerous areas in lymph nodes in my chest and abdomen, as well as a few places on my spine, which are increasing.

So what does this mean? Well, we know that the chemo regimen I am currently on (Herceptin, Pertuzamab, Taxotere) is working - at least where the liver is concerned. So, Dr. Sara does not want to completely change my treatment.

However, obviously, something needs to be done about those increasing areas. As you may remember, last time my treatment changed, Dr. Sara's theory was that the increasing cancer in the liver was likely HER-2 positive, meaning drugs that fight the HER-2 protein (like Herceptin and Pertuzamab) would be effective against it.  It seems that Dr. Sara's theory was correct, since the cancer in the liver is responding to this treatment.

Now, his theory is that perhaps the cancer that is not responding to this treatment might be hormone positive, since when I had my first biopsy back when I was diagnosed, my cancer was both HER-2 and estrogen positive.  It's possible that the cancer in my liver is more HER-2 positive and the cancer in the other areas is more hormone positive.

With breast cancer especially, the cells can act differently within the same body, even though it's all still breast cancer. He used the analogy that my Mom, Dad and I are all part of the same family, but we are still different. This "acting differently within the same body" thing is more often seen with breast cancer than with other types of cancer, and obviously makes treatment more complicated.

If Dr. Sara's theory is correct, then adding a hormone treatment to my current regimen should help fight the increasing spots. However, he doesn't want to just go by trial and error - he would rather know for sure what we are a dealing with rather than just throw something to the wall to see if it sticks.

To that end, I am going to have a bone biopsy this week. They will stick a needle in my spine to extract a tiny piece of the tumor which will be analyzed to see what it's made of, and if it is indeed hormone positive. Then, Dr. Sara will make a decision on treatment.

I'm scheduled to have the bone biopsy at the hospital on Tuesday. It will be similar to the liver biopsy I had three years ago, except this time the needle will go in my spine instead of my liver.  In fact, the same doctor who did my liver biopsy will also do this procedure. I will get a local anesthetic, and probably also some kind of sedative so it should not hurt (hopefully!).

I will get the results the following Monday, and that's when I'll find out what my treatment moving forward will be. I have been on a hormone treatment before - namely Tamoxifen, which is a daily pill that luckily did not cause any side effects for me. However, I imagine there are other types of hormone treatments as well and so we'll just have to wait until next Monday to know what it will be (if it is indeed a hormone treatment that is added).

This experience of test results that are "some areas up, some areas down" has become a pattern, and it is definitely frustrating. My Dad calls it Whac-a-Mole because it seems that as soon as we knock down one area, another pops up. While I am very thankful that my test results continue to not be "catastrophic," just once I'd like to have some all-around positive results.

Maybe this new treatment will do the trick and next time my wish will come true!