Will extra week off from Capecitabine affect the breast tumor growth?

Question

Hello doctor,

My mother was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer. She finished six months of chemotherapy nine months back and had a radical mastectomy two months later.

She is now taking Capecitabine for four months, 14 days on and 7 days off. The Capecitabine gave her diarrhea, so her oncologist gave her an extra week off. My question is, will the extra week off affect the tumor growth? My mom started taking Capecitabine six months ago. She is also taking high blood pressure medicine.

Kindly assist.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I have read your query and can understand your concerns.

Triple-negative breast cancer usually has a poor prognosis compared to other types of breast cancer. She has completed six months of chemo followed by surgery. Now the patient is on Capecitabine.

The side effects of Capecitabine are loose motions, vomiting, low blood counts, and hand-foot syndrome. Usually, if mild diarrhea occurs 1 to 3 times per day, it can be controlled easily at home with medications and hydration, and Capecitabine can be continued, but if more or recurrent, it is sometimes necessary to reduce the dose or stop the medications temporarily or even delay the next cycle.

Occasionally, a one-week delay in chemotherapy will not cause much problem or rapid progression of the tumor. But I do not know the stage of her cancer (no attached reports), whether she has any metastasis or not, and I do not know about her overall general condition.

Is she eating and drinking well, walking, bowel and bladder habits, and her blood report? So your doctor knows about her condition, and he can guide you better. You can revert back any time or day with more details (CT scan or PET CT scan reports, blood tests, etc.). I would be available to answer your queries.

For more information, consult a medical oncologist online.

I hope I have answered your queries.

Revert in case of any other doubts.

Thank you.