Finally, some GOOD news about Triple Negative BC

One of the side affects of my short chemo is that I don't sleep well afterwards. They must give me some medication (or it is the Gemzar) that keeps me really alert, because the last two times I had this treatment I tossed and turned all night.

So tonight, even though it is around 1:30 a.m., I'm wide awake, and am using the time to do some research. One of the more credible sites that I like to browse is the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). It is a resource that my oncologist respects, and I have to believe that the folks who present at their symposiums are some of the most respected in their field. Tonight, I found two reports of good prognosis related to triple negative cancer

They conclude:

Conclusions: Not all of these Triple Negative Breast Cancer patients had poor prognosis as mentioned in literature. Both the overall survival and disease free survival are almost similar to those with (other types of breast cancer). Effective treatment strategies can only be implemented with increased understanding of the biology of this distinct breast cancer subtype.

The distant metastasis-free rate after 5 years was 85% (Kathy Miller only gave me a 5% chance for the next 2 years!?) . Conclusions: Triple negative subtype could be a predictor of relapse rate compared with the rest of the group. However there was no significant difference in 5 year survival between triple negative and the rest of the patients.

This is very hopeful information, and completely inconsistent with the information presented to me by Kathy Miller. She is a very well respected doctor in her field -- I don't want to misrepresent that on this blog. She is considered one of the best of the best. But neither she (nor anyone) cannot predict the future with the clarity she presented a couple of weeks ago. There are too many variables, and these reports are both clinical evidence of HOPE for triple negative patients.

Consistently, the most important factor in prognosis is lymph node and blood vessel involvement of the cancer. I had lymph node involvement with my first breast cancer (we just aren't sure how much?), but pathology showed no blood vessel involvement with either of my cancers. The degree to which the lymph node involvement will play in my overall health is an unknown for me, and I have to believe that is meant to be. God knows those details. Even though I might want that information, I don't need that information.

This is the first encouraging news I've seen about triple negative breast cancer in a while... triple negative is hard to beat, but not unbeatable! I am very encouraged to find such positive news from a credible organization!

Now seems like a good time to try to get some sleep....