Something about Elizabeth Edwards breast cancer that was just reported

[Horse with no Name]

They said they were going to treat it with hormones.
That is VERY good news because basically the type of cancer she has feeds off of hormones which is something that can be controlled with medication.
My best friend that died did NOT have that type of breast cancer.
This is indeed good news.

[hippiechick]

1. the news doesn't sound so good on this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x475321


:shrug: :(

[Horse with no Name]

2. When dealing with cancer

Sometimes the options don't always sound so good to the people who aren't suffering from this.
However, it is the best possible scenario in a sea of horrible ones.

[cassiepriam]

3. Met to the bone and lung is not good news.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

4. Cross post - A personal experience with Elizabeth's cancer diagnosis

My mother was found to have breast cancer a year ago last December (2005). She had a radical mastectomy followed up by additional surgery to remove lymph nodes. At that time they still thought they had gotten it all until they did a bone scan and found cancer had spread to a bone. Because of her age, 78, she is not a candidate for extensive chemotherapy. They also thought she would not benefit from radiation although they did decide to hold off on radiation and keep that in the "arsenal" for future use, if necessary.

The doctor told us at that time we were no longer going for a cure but management of the disease. My mother now takes a teeny, tiny pill that the doctor calls hormone therapy to control the spread of the cancer. She also goes once a month for a transfusion of Zometa that is a calcium supplement to help keep her bones stronger.

My mother now has a pill to take each day, she has to have blood tests done once a month, she has an IV once a month and every 3-4 months she has a bone scan to assess if the cancer has spread to further bones. She has remained "healthy," feeling very good with absolutely no spread of the cancer at all for over a year.

Do we know how long this will last, no, but we'll take every day we can. The point I want to make is that Elizabeth can live a very active, full life with this cancer and her treatment. I fully expect Elizabeth to come back out fighting and fighting hard.

Not great news but not the absolute worst either.

[cassiepriam]

6. We have not seen EE's PET scans, the labs, and the new staging info.

So we don't really know how good or bad the news is...
only guessing at this point. But met to lung and bone
bumps up the stage level for sure, which is a much poorer
prognosis.

[Gothmog]

19. I have a friend with this type of bone cancer

If this typeo of breast cance in the bone cancer is hormone base, then there are drugs that can help. My friend is going on 9 years after the reappearance of the breast cancer in the bone marrow. They have made some great progress here.

[cassiepriam]

20. Had the cancer gone to lung and other organs?

[RedEarth]

5. Could be, however only 26% with stage four cancer live 5 or more years

.......tragically, this is very bad news for the Edwards......

According to statistics from the American Cancer Society, 26.1 percent of patients with stage four cancer live five years or more. By contrast, patients whose cancer is confined to the breast and has not spread to surrounding tissue or lymph nodes have a five-year survival rate of 98 percent.Mr. Edwards said many patients have lived many years, managing their condition in a way he likened to someone with diabetes who rely on insulin treatment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/us/politics/22cnd-edwards.html?hp

[Horse with no Name]

7. Dr. Snyderman on MSNBC

said that EE had Stage III breast cancer. I don't know.:shrug:

[RedEarth]

13. Well, I listened to the interview with EE's doctor and her doctor said it was stage four....

.....either way it's not good news................. below is the NYT aritcle

from the NYT.....

Her doctor said at the news conference that Mrs. Edwards had meta-static, or stage four, breast cancer, meaning that it is an advanced stage that has spread beyond the breast and lymph nodes to other organs. Mr. Edwards said that because the tumor was relatively small and because there was a relatively minimal presence of cancer in other places they were optimistic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/us/politics/22cnd-edwards.html?hp

[cassiepriam]

8. Is there word on the new staging of the cancer? Is it 3 or 4?

[Horse with no Name]

9. Not that I have heard

Her primary staging was 3, not sure what the secondary staging is.

[cassiepriam]

16. dupe delete

[OhioChick]

10. She's got Stage 4

as per her physician that spoke following the Edward's press conference.

on edit to add:

"Dr. Lisa Carey, Mrs. Edwards’s oncologist, in televised interviews following the couple’s announcement, termed it Stage 4 cancer, and said the cancer was possibly present in some other bones, and possibly in other organs, but said further test results were required to identify and confirm those sites."

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/edwards-the-campaign-goes-on-despite-wifes-cancer-recurrence/

[cassiepriam]

17. Not good. Not good at all.

[rodeodance]

15. see, post 14, her Doc says Stage 4.

[woodsprite]

11. When I was researching my cancer (uterine), I was constantly

being reminded that the research reports I was reading were old - had to be to follow patients 5 yrs. Treatments for breast cancer have come far in 5+ yrs. Something else that skews the reports is that you have to read each one with a fine tooth comb and not just the generalized results. If you read reports on my kind, it sounds like I have a 45% recurrence rate. Those figures take into consideration all grades 1-4 AND all stage 2's (2A, 2B...). When grades are broken out, the numbers change drastically! I'm sure it's the same with breast cancer. Maybe even moreso since there are more grades/stages than in uterine cancer.

My prayers are with the Edwards' family. The repubs could learn something about true 'family values' there!

[Buttercup McToots]

12. She looks very fragile

very small...
Oh gosh...
I'm just going to focus
on spontaneous healing...

[rodeodance]

14. It is still up in the air if would respond to hormone therapy. These tests

take days to determine.

[cassiepriam]

21. Those tests would have been done when the cancer was first dxed.

Are they re doing the testing for some reason??

[undeterred]

18. My dog was diagnosed with cancer in 1999

and treated with IL-2 (experimental biological therapy) to stimulate his immune system. He is 14 and lying on the couch snoring. He did not understand the meaning of the word cancer or that he was supposed to die by halloween 1999. Different cancer, but prayer and hope are still the same.