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Cisplatin vs Carboplatin
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Yellowjacket View Drop Down
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Joined: Jul 31 2013
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    Posted: Jul 31 2013 at 3:15pm
My wife has recently found out her breast cancer is on the move after a biopsy we know it's is now in her liver.  She is TN and has already had AC and Taxol, followed by radiation.  She has multiple tumors located on the left side of her liver and it's caused some pain due to inflamation.  We are currently working with her doctor to determine what our next step might be.  Her doctor is recomending Gemzar and Cisplatin but our insurance company seems to take issue with that drug combo.  Is carboplatin a viable substitute or do we push the issue with the insurance folks or even pay for cisplatin ourselves?  Any help or insight will be of great comfort.
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Lee21 View Drop Down
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Points: 752 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lee21 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jul 31 2013 at 7:02pm
I'm sorry about your wife's recurrence.

I've seen here on the forum a number of women with stage IV disease being treated with gemzar/carboplatin. Carboplatin was developed to minimize the side effects associated with cisplatin. I'm not sure if the two are exactly interchangeable or not since there is at least one retrospective study I know of that suggests cisplatin is more active than carboplatin in combination chemo for treating primary breast cancer.

However I did a google scholar search and it appears that are a number of studies using gemzar/cisplatin:
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=gemcitabine+carboplatin+cisplatin+breast+cancer&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5&as_ylo=2009

You might want to ask your wife's oncologist why the gemzar/cisplatin recommendation and relay the insurance issue. 
12/9/11 @59,IDC,grade3, TNBC,3cm(MRI),SLNB0,stage IIA, BRCA1 variant
1/30/12 DD AC-T, 6/7/12 Lumpectomy, ypT1b(0.8 cm), 7/9/12 Rads x 30
11/9/12, clinical trial cisplatin/rucaparib, cisplatin-only arm
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TriplePositiveGirl View Drop Down
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Points: 667 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TriplePositiveGirl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jul 31 2013 at 7:37pm
Hi Yellowjacket,

I am so very sorry to hear about your wife's recurrence. I personally had the gemzar/carbo combo and found it very tolerable, as well as effective, but I was not dealing with a recurrence. I know there are many others on this site who have had the same combo; one in particular comes to mind - Snickers - who had extensive mets to the liver, and is now in remission (NED). Hopefully she will see your post and respond!

Best Wishes,
Lisa
Diagnosed Jan 2010; Stage IIa, grade 2, 3.2cm in rt. breast, no nodes and BRCA-. 4 cycles Carbo/Gemzar 3/10; Lump 6/10; 2 cycles carbo/gem after surgery 8/10; 35 Rads finished 12/1/10. NED.
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