Taxol vs Taxotere

I have locally recurrent metastatic IDC ER/PR+ with four positive lymph nodes.  My oncologist put met on neoadjuvant chemotherapy which included Cytoxin and Taxotere.  The first time I had breast cancer, I was given four rounds of Adriomyicin and Cytoxin and an additional four rounds of Taxol.  I've heard that cancer can become resistant to chemotherapy drugs.  Since I've already had Cytoxin and Taxol, is there a greater chance that this cancer will be resistant to Cytoxin and Taxotere (which is in the same family of drugs as Taxol)?


This discussion is related to Taxol versus Taxotere.

[PaulMD]

Hi there.

Yes, cancer cells can be resistant to chemotherapy but this is dependent on a lot of factors.  One is the length of time before the cancer came back.  If the cancer came back for at least after 12 months from the first surgery, then using the same chemotherapy drugs will still be effective, and resistance is minimal.  If the cancer recurs sooner from the first surgery (less than 12 months), then resistance is highly entertained, and different drugs should be used.  Taxotere, though in the same class as Taxol, is not cross-resistant with it.  Meaning, even if resistant with Taxol, Taxotere will still work.

Regards and God bless.