Of all the toxic treatments out there, one stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Chemotherapy (chemo) isn’t just the worst. It’s the WORST of the worst. It’s so toxic that surveys show many docs would reject it if they ever have cancer themselves, especially in terminal cases.
Which cancer treatments you choose to use are always a highly personal choice, of course. One that you should make only after carefully weighing all the facts and consulting with your doctor.
But if you ever choose to reject chemo? Oh boy, you better prepare yourself for some major lectures. Because everyone from your doctor to your mailman will have an opinion.
They’ll all swear they know what’s best for YOU. And… spoiler alert… nearly everyone will say you’re making a mistake.
Well, ladies, new research reveals you no longer have to be a card-carrying cancer rebel to reject chemo. At least for some forms of breast cancer.
Canceling the chemo is not only perfectly acceptable in these situations. It might actually be BETTER for you overall.
Chemo didn’t significantly raise survival
The new study looked at older women in their 70s with HER2+ breast cancer. Most of the ladies had either stage 1 or stage 2 tumors.
Some were given the drug trastuzumab (Herceptin) after surgery. Others got the drug AND chemo.
A hair under 90 percent of those on the drug alone had a disease-free survival of at least three years. And that’s versus 93.8 percent of those on chemo. In other words, unsurprisingly, the drug and chemo combo won.
But not by a lot. And in fact, the results were so close that even the scientists behind the new study say it’s clear that many women with this form of breast cancer can skip the chemo.
They say the case AGAINST chemo is strongest in these two situations:
- Women likely to suffer more side effects from chemo
- Women with a lower risk of disease recurrence
That makes sense, given that 90 percent or more survived in either case.
Making the right treatment choice for YOU
According to the study, the overall difference in survival comes down to about one month for those women who, tragically, do not make it.
An extra month of life is an extra month of life. It’s more time to spend with your loved ones, and you can’t put a price on that. But, of course, this isn’t as simple as adding 30 days to your timeline in this world. There’s the quality of life to consider, too.
For many women, that extra month could be spent sick, exhausted, and barely able to function. And, of course, it’s not just that month but all the months spent on chemo leading up to it.
There’s no right or wrong choice when it comes to chemo. And anyone who tells you there’s only one correct way to handle cancer is wrong.
So if you’re facing this choice, take the time you need to make your decision. Seek out all the facts. Talk to your doctors. (Click here to discover what they WON’T tell you about your cancer.) And get a second opinion if you want more input to make the best decision for YOU.
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