'Extreme Weight Loss': Husband and Wife Lose Combined 310 Pounds

Jason and Rachel were extremely overweight.

Parents of 5-year-old twins, the couple from South Lyon, Mich., used food to bury problems in their marriage, including a separation during which Rachel, 34, reconnected with an old boyfriend.

They needed help. Chris Powell, fitness trainer and host of ABC’s “Extreme Weight Loss,” showed up and pledged to help them lose the weight. They became the first married couple Powell would train together.

RELATED: ‘Extreme Weight Loss’: Teacher Meredith Prince Loses 159 Pounds

Rachel’s starting weight was 290 pounds. Her 35-year-old husband tipped the scale at 362 pounds.

They worked out, ran, modified their diet and saw results. At their 90-day weigh-in, Rachel had lost 75 pounds, and her husband had lost 86 pounds.

Their results weren’t as dramatic at their next weigh-in, so Powell increased the intensity of their program.

RELATED: Chris Powell’s Summer Slimdown Tips

At the nine-month mark, their weight loss was back on track.

WATCH: ‘Extreme Weight Loss’: Chris Powell Helps Obese Twins Get Fitter

Over the course of the program, Rachel and Jason were transformed. They were no longer overweight, and even had surgery to remove the excess skin they carried.

At their final weigh-in, Rachel weighed 145 pounds, and Jason weighed 197 pounds.

Jason was emotional.

“I’m the luckiest guy. I have two perfect kids, a gorgeous wife, everything is perfect right now,” he said.

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Arimidex and Faslodex Combined Show Promise in Metastatic Breast Cancer

The combination of anastrozole (ArimidexR) and fulvestrant (FaslodexR) prolonged overall survival and progression-free survival in postmenopausal women with previously untreated hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer compared to Arimidex alone, according to the results of a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. ?

Each year roughly 200,000 U.S. women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Many of these breast cancers are hormone receptor-positive, meaning that they are stimulated to grow by the circulating female hormones estrogen and/or progesterone. Treatment of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer often involves hormonal therapies that suppress or block the action of estrogen.?

Arimidex is a type of hormone therapy known as an aromatase inhibitor and works by suppressing the production of estrogen in postmenopausal women. Faslodex is a type of hormonal therapy known as an estrogen receptor antagonist and works by binding to estrogen receptors and degrading them. Both drugs are approved for the treatment of postmenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer. ?

To evaluate the drugs in combination, researchers conducted a trial involving 694 women who were randomly assigned to receive Arimidex alone or Arimidex and Faslodex combined. All women in the study had cancer that was hormone-receptor positive and none of them had been previously treated with chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or hormone therapy to stop the spread of disease. ?

The results indicated that the combination was superior to the single agent therapy. The median progression-free survival was 15 months in the combination group, compared to 13.5 months in the Arimidex alone group. Overall survival was also longer in the combination group—47.7 months compared to 41.3 months in the single agent group. Of note, not all patients assigned to anastrozole subsequently received fulvestrant.? Furthermore, another study looking at the combination of anastrozole and fulvestrant failed to show superiority over anastrozole alone.?

Both groups had mild to moderate side effects such as joint pain and hot flashes. Although the rate was higher in the combination group, it was not statistically significant. ?

The researchers concluded that the combination of Arimidex and Faslodex was superior to Arimidex alone for the treatment of hormone-receptor positive metastatic breast cancer—even though the dose of Faslodex was below the current standard dose. However, the results of this study have to be reconciled with the less favorable results from the other study that evaluated this combination. ?Many oncologists continue to believe that the optimal hormonal therapy approach for women newly diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer remains uncertain.?

Reference:?

Mehta RS, Barlow WE, Albain KS, et al. Combination anastrozole and fulvestrant in metastatic breast cancer. New England Journal of Medicine. 2012; 367:435-444.?

Posted August 6, 2012

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Combined HER2 Treatment Improves Outcome of Advanced Breast Cancer

Among women with metastatic, HER2-positive breast cancer, treatment with a combination of HER2-targeted therapies may produce better outcomes than treatment with only a single HER2-targeted therapy. These results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and were also presented at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.????

Approximately 20-25% of breast cancers overexpress (make too much of) a protein known as HER2. Fortunately, the development of drugs that specifically target HER2-positive breast cancer has improved outcomes. These drugs include HerceptinR (trastuzumab), TykerbR (lapatinib), and the investigational drug pertuzumab.????

To explore whether treatment with both Herceptin and pertuzumab can improve outcomes among women with metastatic, HER2-positive breast cancer, researchers conducted a study among 808 patients. All patients received Herceptin and chemotherapy, and some patients also received pertuzumab.????

The addition of pertuzumab delayed cancer progression. Survival without cancer progression was 12.4 months among patients treated with only Herceptin and chemotherapy, and 18.5 months among patients treated with Herceptin, chemotherapy, and pertuzumab.?The addition of pertuzumab was generally well tolerated by patients, although patients in the pertuzumab group were more likely to experience febrile neutropenia (low-white blood cell count accompanied by fever) and diarrhea.?

These results suggest adding pertuzumab to Herceptin and chemotherapy may improve outcomes among women with metastatic, HER2-positive breast cancer.?

Studies are also exploring the use of pertuzumab in early-stage breast cancer.?

Reference: Baselga J, Cortes J, Kim S-B. Pertuzumab plus trastuzumab plus doxetaxel for metastatic breast cancer. New England Journal of Medicine. Early online publication December 7, 2011.?

Posted December 13, 2011?

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