We were always aware of the severe side effects that these harsh cancer treatments can have. However, we were never advised that the drug: Eribulin can sometimes exacerbate cancer in the bone. It can be highly effective with mets on the liver, of which Brenda had. But her bone pain certainly became a lot worse on this drug. I feel strongly that oncology teams need to be more open, honest and transparent with patients about the downside of the treatments they are choosing, so they know what to expect and aren’t left to discover these things on their own. In Brendas case, not divulging this kind of information led to unexpected issues and hurdles, which ultimately made her journey even harder.

Paclitaxel

In April 2021 Brenda was put on a drug called Paclitaxel – this drug belongs to a group of chemotherapy drugs known at taxanes. Paclitaxel should have been suitable for Brendas type and grade of cancer, however, she got no positive response at all and the treatment was withdrawn after only a short time. I believe that this should have been a flag for her team to retest her cancer to check they were still dealing with the type and grade they initially thought they were: why did a drug not work for Brenda that had such high success rates in other women?….Earlier in this story I wrote about a professor who stated during a consultation that he was baffled at Brendas medical file, claiming that when she was first diagnosed, it did not respond in the way of what pathology had found. He also stated that it was possible they were not dealing with the type of cancer they initially thought. With this view in addition to the paclitaxel not being effective, Brenda should have been referred for a further biopsy to recheck her type of cancer, instead of just continuing to try treatments and hope for positive results.

 Every secondary cancer patient will hope their oncology team identify and select the most suitable and effective treatment regime for their disease. Patients are advised that everyone’s biology is different and no two cancers are the same. But there is not enough testing or retesting of the cancers in existing patients, this is the difference between life and death.

Is it real?

I hope I have highlighted the failures in the process and management of Brendas treatment for secondary breast cancer. There are continual improvements and advancement in cancer drugs and treatments, but not enough is going into checking behaviour of the cancers as time goes on – cancers change all the time and the grade and type that patients were initially diagnosed with, can change. What was once a suitable treatment for them, may no longer be – but they are put onto another drug that is intended for the same type of cancer, in the hope that will work. It makes no sense. The signs of cancers mutating and changing are being missed or ignored every day. This is no conspiracy theory, Brendas story is real and what I have written is what we went through.

Brenda was on erubilin until June 2022. By this time, Brenda was suffering from hypercalcaemia: a condition when there is too much calcium in the blood. We weren’t advised of the serious medical significance of it at the time. Brendas team just advised that it was under control but went on to advise the erubilin was no longer effective. They didn’t explain why it was no longer effective and made no link between erubilin exacerbating bone cancer in some patients, and the increased and dangerous levels of calcium in Brendas blood. The professor who gave us the news that he was withdrawing the eribulin came across with profound resignation and defeat.