After Mastectomy, Herceptin, Tamoxifen, Xeloda and Tykerb

Fransisca is from Jakarta, thirty-two years old when she found a 1.6 cm lump in her left breast which was eventually diagnosed as cancer. 

It's a tragic story but it's happened again and again – breast cancer progressed to stage IV and has no cure. What's wrong? In reality nothing is wrong. Fransiska followed what her doctor wanted her to do.

Fransiska Died After Surgery, Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy, Herceptin, Tamoxifen, Xeloda and Tykerb

(Life on earth is an experience. Let Frances' death be a valuable lesson for those like her)

Fransiska, originally from Jakarta, was thirty-two years old when she found a 1.6 cm lump in her left breast which was eventually diagnosed as cancer. At the same time his father died of cancer. In November 2004, he underwent surgery to remove a lump at a hospital in Singapore. Unfortunately some of the lymph nodes in his armpit were also infected. After the operation, Fransiska received thirty-five radiation treatments. He felt better after that.

In January 2007, that is, two years after radiation therapy, Fransiska was informed that her cancer had spread to her lungs. He did chemotherapy and got six cycles of Taxol and Herceptin injections. One injection of Herceptin costs 2,500 S$ and Fransiska has been injected eight times. Her oncologist had to continue with Herceptin, but Fransiska decided to stop after eight injections because she could no longer afford the treatment.

In July 2007, Fransiska received Tamoxifen therapy. A month later, a scan of her bones showed the cancer had spread to her spine at T12.

In January 2008, his brain scan showed an 8 x 7 mm mass in his brain. And also seen a mass of 1.4 x 9.0 cm in his heart. Fransiska was asked by her doctor to stop therapy with Tamoxifen. He was prescribed oral medication for cancer – Xeloda and Tykerb (lapatinib). Three weeks of treatment with Tykerb costs S$2,500.

Fransiska told us that she was aware of the "bad side effects" of her medical therapy, but that she had no other choice. He didn't know what else to do except follow the doctor's advice.

In November 2004, Fransiska started a schedule for drinking juice with apples, beet roots, and carrots (ABC). He also uses apricot kernels (a source of vitamin B17), cloves, medicinal liquid from a mixture of black walnuts (black walnut) and roots. In addition, he also uses IP6, spirulina, Perfect Food, and high doses of Vitamin C. He stopped consuming everything in 2007 when the cancer spread to his lungs.

In February 2005, he undertook a detoxification and rejuvenation program with an ABC juice and coffee enema program. He continued all this until he saw blood in his urine. He stopped this program. Frances also consumes pineapple and papaya.

Fransiska is aware of the need to consume healthy food. She consumes fruit and vegetable juices, she also avoids white sugar, oil, eggs, all meats and fast food. He consumed shark fins but after a while he stopped because it was not effective.

He had headaches, nausea, and his blood pressure was very low. Fransiska came back to her oncologist in August 2008. Scans showed the cancer had spread to her brain. The results of a CT scan of the abdomen (stomach) show:

• Metastases in both lobes of the liver. The largest lesion was in the left lobe measuring 2.0 x 1.8 cm and the largest in the right lobe measuring 1.5 x 1.4 cm.

• Stable sclerosis of the T12 vertebral body.

Oncologists concluded this cancer had progressed and suggested two options:

• Fransiska is undergoing chemotherapy again plus Lapatinib, or,

• He continued to use Lapatinib; receives regular injections to strengthen her bones and therapy to relieve her menopausal symptoms. Previously, Fransiska was treated with Zoladex to stop her menstruation.

• Fransiska often writes to us asking for help. The last email I received from him was on October 30, 2008 when he was complaining of digestive problems. I am sad to inform you that Fransiska fell into a coma and died 2 years later, in mid-December 2008. Her death came four years after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Even the most expensive and newest drugs for cancer could not help him.

Comments : This is indeed a tragic story but it has happened again and again – breast cancer progressed to stage IV and has no cure. What's wrong? In reality nothing is wrong. Fransiska followed what her doctor wanted her to do. He runs the Art of medical therapy in Singapore. Yee, a 40-year-old woman from Penang also died in the same way. She has early stage breast cancer. Performing surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, consuming Tamoxifen and Tykerb in addition to Herceptin. He ended up with metastases to the lungs, bones, liver and finally to his brain. He died after spending over 100,000 RM on his therapy.

At CA Care, with our experience of more than thirteen years, we see three phenomena that often occur in breast cancer patients.

1. First, our data shows that breast cancer patients (in Malaysia) who undergo surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and take Tamoxifen experience spread to the bones, lungs, etc. after several years. Patients (in Indonesia) who switch to traditional medicine or who do not follow standard medical therapy do not suffer extensive metastases or eventually suffer extensive metastases.


2. Young patients who undergo the full package of medical therapy for breast cancer tend to suffer from more severe metastases.


3. Now that Herceptin is available, we are starting to see patients with brain metastases. Is there a correction regarding this treatment and its relationship with metastases in the brain?
   

We recognize that our research is a joke and therefore can be disproved. A research on the internet provides some conclusions that are valuable enough to serve as a record.

The Boston Globe ( A new peril for breast cancer survivors by Liz Kowalczk, 7 February 2006) tells the story of Amy Socia who was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 43 years old. She underwent mastectomy, breast reconstructive surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Despite medical therapy the cancer spread to his liver and spine. Amy was prescribed what we call a promising drug – Herceptin – and “miraculously” her cancer began to shrink! But it's not for long. Not long after that (five years after he was first diagnosed) two tumors appeared in his brain. This led Amy to conclude: There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer. It just won't go away. You just move from one therapy to another.”Amy's story is not much different from Fransiska's.

Fransiska was treated with lapatinib (Tykerb) and capecitabine (Xeloda). This modern therapy was shown in one study “to shrink brain metastases significantly in six percent of 241 patients.” (significantly reduced percentage of brain metastases in 6 percent of 241 patients). On the official website of  www.tykerb.com, we can read the following information:

• There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer, but it is treatable.

• Some women may develop and develop liver damage while taking Tykerb. In some cases, liver damage may be fatal and cause death.

• Side effects of Tykerb are: nausea, vomiting, burning sensation in the pit of the stomach, loss of appetite, redness, pain in the hands and feet, skin rash, dry skin, pain in the lips, mouth, or throat, pain in the hands, feet, or back pain, difficulty sleeping or staying asleep, shortness of breath, cough, cough with bloody or pink sputum, fast and irregular heartbeat, fatigue or weakness and swelling of the hands, feet, ankles or calves.

Patients must remember that treating cancer does not mean it can be cured! To treat means to spend a lot of money but the therapy cannot cure. Shrinking the tumor also does not mean cured! Lapatinib causes liver damage. Isn't this what happened in France's case?

Side effects of Herceptin include: Fever and chills (common at first treatment), respiratory and heart failure, diarrhea, headache, nausea and vomiting, pain, rash on the skin, and weakness. However, the most displeasing of the reports about Herceptin are the brain metastases.

The December 13, 2001 report by Robert Carlson states:

• It is known that breast cancer patients with metastases are more likely to develop bone metastases, but patients taking Herceptin show an increased risk of brain metastases compared to bone metastases.

Journal, Cancer (15 June 2003, Vol: 97:2972-2977), states:

• Metastasis of breast carcinoma to the brain is common in patients receiving treatment with the drug Herceptin.

• Approximately 6 to 16% of women with metastatic breast cancer have spread to the brain but patients receiving Herceptin as first aid therapy are at greater risk of developing CNS (brain) disease (42%)

Questions you might ask : What does the above observation have to do with the spread in France's brain? What could have happened to Fransiska's indifference – Will she die of breast cancer in 4 years? What might be the real cause of Francisco's death?

Source:  cancercare
Read also: Case No. 2 and Cancer, But They're Still Alive!