Kisqali and Letrozole have heart issues?

@canderson5
What is your current status with Kisqali and your heart? My afib just keeps advancing. I’m in afib 30% of the time now which is really impacting my quality of life. Those days are just wasted. Considering cardiac ablation now but added risk for me due to other conditions. Since I believe Kisqali started it I’m wondering if lowering my dose to 200 mg a day would stop it or if it’s too late at this point. Then I would worry if 200 mg is really even an effective dose.

Is anyone on only 200 mg of Kisqali? How long? Did I reduce side effects or effectiveness? Kisqali 400 mg and Letrozole have been effective for 4.5 years so I really don’t want to rock the boat.

I'm taking both from 10 months ago and had a heart problem after 4 months. I consulted an oncologist in MD Anderson regarding dose reduction of Kisqali from 400mg to 200 mg. He said 200 mg will be useless. It won't work. I consulted another oncologist and was told I may take Kisqali 400 mg one day and 200 mg another day if my heart problem gets worse. I consulted my cardiologist for his suggestion. He is very experienced. He told me that both medicines may cause heart issues, so he ordered heart ultrasound for me. Fortunately the problem is not serious. He did not think I shall reduce the dose. After I take supplements like CQ 10, fish oil and drink a lot of water per day, the heart problem was gone.

I'm taking them as well, but my bone metastatic gets worse. Is your stage three or four? Do Kisqali and letrozole work well to control your cancer?

@jenyu
Sorry to hear your BC has metastasized to your bones and that it’s getting worse. So scary and frustrating for you.

With my breast cancer that recurred in my chest wall and pectoral muscle 7 years post mastectomy, my oncologist labeled it stage 4, but someone else on here thinks that’s 3. In any case, it’s considered advanced, incurable but treatable. It came back 3 times as aggressive now Ki-67 50%. My oncologist felt cells likely got away before the chest wall tumor was created due to its aggressive nature. Luckily I found the lump and had an ultrasound two days later as he told me it would have spread everywhere within months it’s so aggressive. I also had a positive margin after this latest surgery 5 years ago. I had 37 radiation treatments. No chemo. I not only can’t do chemo because of my pre-x neuropathy but he didn’t feel it would be effective on the makeup of this current cancer. So at this point the chest wall tumor was removed and I have CT scans every 6 months. I’ve been taking Kisqali and Letrozole for 4.5 years and so far so good. As you know, it takes about 10 million cancer cells in one spot to show up on a scan so at this point I have no way of knowing if the radiation successfully killed off the positive margin or if any cells got away anywhere else. I just know the scans are still clear 5 years after surgery so I’m pretty happy about that. Were continuing the Kisqali and Letrozole as it would be a risky experiment to go off and see what happens. I also have the BRCA2 and CHEK2 mutations so this treatment will hopefully keep any new BC from forming as well. They can never get 100% if the breast tissue with a mastectomy. My BC is also highly hormone dependent.

What does your oncologist have to say about the advancement of your cancer? Any other treatment options? Prayers for you. ❤️

Good to hear you’re doing okay. Thanks for the info regarding the 200 mg dose. I started on 600 but that gave me dangerous QT prolongation. I have been on 400 for 4.5 years and dealing with paroxysmal AFib ever since that started on day 5 of Kisqali but 8 days before I started Letrozole. I purposely started Letrozole two weeks later hoping I would know which med caused which side effects. My oncologist tells me the AFib is unrelated. Right. Heart rhythm issues are even in Kisqali’s own literature. I will be asking the EP his thoughts on Kisqali and AFib. Thanks again for the reply. Best to you going forward.