Erlotinib and tarceva
Common Questions and Answers about Erlotinib and tarceva
tarceva
both lung plumonory nodul ans one large tumor ,after 6 cycle of chemo with TAXOL,CARBOPLATIN ,AND COMBINED with erlotinib .since then the diesies showed improvment and shrinkage in tumor. . HE has been under maintance treatment with Tarceva since 2009 upto now. the previous PET-CT ON JULY 2011 WAS NEGATIVE AND CONCLUSION was that no evidence of residual hypermetabolic disease seen in lung.. but the recent CT showed smal new lesion 1,8 *2 cm. in comparison to previous.
4 rounds of chemo of taxotere and cisplatin seem to have not worked as now he has mets in his liver, bones and adrenal glands. His doctor is aftraid that Tarceva is not recommended to someone with mets to the bone. That is not what I read. Can you please let me know if Tarceva is for him and whether that can hep stop or slow down the disease?
Thanks.
If the node is positive for cancer metastases, this may imply disease progression in spite of Tarceva intake. Tarceva may have to be replaced with another more effective chemotherapy drug. Radiation therapy to shrink the node and relieve the swelling may also have to be done. Consult with your oncologist as soon as possible so you can be properly assessed.
If the patient improves with the radiation, or maintains adequate strength or performance status(sufficient strength is usually defined as able to remain up and about at least half of the waking hours), you may wish to discuss other options aside from tarceva - such as the original plan of cisplatin and etoposide. This is because there is a known benefit for these drugs in terms of survival when used as first option among good performance status patients.
By December 2007 she was diagnosed with spots in her spine and ribs. By January 2008 she was diagnosed with spots on her brain. She is unable to breathe without oxygen and has been at home since February 2008 on 24 hour oxygen. She has a vile cough that is persistent. She coughs all day long - a raspy fruity cough. She is also in considerable pain behind one of her breasts which is larger than the other one. Apparently the cancer in her rib has caused a break or fracture in this rib.
My husband was diagnosed with a Pancoast tumor on his lung. He went thru chemo/ radiation and finally had surgery to remove the tumor. It was successful. He had more chemo for precaution. After one year, the cancer came back into his Adrenal Gland. It is also in his Lymph Nodes. They put him on Tarceva( a pill he took everyday) And after 6-7 weeks, he had tests done which showed it didn't do anything.. the tumor has grown. They said there is no other options..
t know the details, but it is past the operating stage. My parents live in Jordan and they have just returned from a trip to Israel to see a doctor. Now my father is going to get treatment of I think Chemo pills in Jordan.
I am very skeptical, and correct me if I am wrong, but (financial obstacles aside) would it not improve all chances considerably if my Father were to go to somewhere more advanced like Mayo Clinic or any of the top rated Clinics around the world to get treated there?
He has been through several chemo and radiation treatments and is now starting on Tarceva. It has been a long road so far and he has his good days and bad days. I don't think there's any way even the doctors can tell us how much time they have left specifically. His doctor said it could be a year, 5 or even 10, but of course we are all hoping and praying for at least 20 more with him.
It has already spread to the spine, both lungs and the lymph system. Doctors triede Tarceva for 3 weeks but her body had a very bad reaction. For the spine they did radiotherapy. But since she was diagnose 3 months ago she has lost aalmost her voice. she is using oxygen for the major part of the day but doctors don't wan't to talk about time. no more medes will be given and she was reffer to hospice....
CA125 only responded marginally (from 180 to 130) and chemo had to be stopped after 3 cycl. due to extreme liver enzyme rise and haematological problems. Topotecan/docetaxel weekly reduced CA125 level within 6 weeks to 40, but it increased thereafter and treatment was stopped because of alveolitis and CA125 had reached 70 again. Next chemo was taxol weekly with avastin biweekly, which led to a fast drop of CA125 (after 3 weeks down to 20!).
She is not a candidate for treatment and is refusing even palliative tx such as Tarceva. PET Scan showed no evidence of cancer in brain, liver or bone. Because she is experiencing no symptoms she is hesistant to participate in a home hospice program. What symptoms are generally experienced and if possible a general timeline for disease progression.
Oh my God! Thank you Lord for letting me hear from someone with darn near my situation!
I had lower left lobectomy May 29, 2009. Stage 1A BAC (nodule 1.3 cm)...no chemo (there seems to be only one that "might" work, Tarceva) and no radiation (what will they burn out? the lobe's gone already).
90 % "chance" of making 5 years is what they tell me. Mucho NO info on BAC. Only bad prognosis.
I have already survived breast cancer (BRCA 2 Mutation) for 6 YEARS!
inoperable; no relevant mutations. He had undergone radiation to lung and several rounds of chemo (Carboplatin, Taxotere, Cisplatin, Gemzar). He also had surgery to remove one brain met (January 2014) and one kidney (May 2014)… CT scan in December showed no mets outside lung and lymph nodes….
He started Tarceva this January but it seems it did not work as the cancer spread to brain….
Hi. Which particular "chemosensitivity test" are you referring to? There is no single laboratory procedure which can test for the sensitivity to chemotherapy of all types of tumors. In breast cancer, there's the Estrogen Receptor (ER) and Progesterone Receptor (PR) assays to determine sensitivity to hormonal treatment. There's also the HER-2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) assay for determining sensitivity to Trastuzumab.
I discoverd this forum a few days ago and looking around I learned a lot out of other peoples posts, they are very helpful and so full of hope!
I had surgery (sugarbaker + total colectomy, r100 at 4 months after the last dose of Carbopl/Taxwe started Doxil which worked for 9 months. Then I had many chemos (I am on number 7 now) during the last year and my tumor seems to be resistant to platinum, taxol, topotecan, taxotere, gemzar and avastin.
In 2005, he had Tarceva. In 2008 they discovered metastasis to the liver (3 lesions) and he underwent chemo again (I think Avastin) and he finished the treatment in March. The doctor said the tumors in both the lungs and liver were smaller.
For the past 3 weeks he´s been vomiting, but sporadically. There is no pattern. It doesn´t matter if he eats lightly or heavily. Some days he vomits once, some days nothing.
He went to see a Gastroenterologist. They did a sonogram...
We are 28 Months down the road and have been through Tarceva, carboplatin/paclitaxel/avastin, a phase II trial and are setting off on the next stage. I think there are too many variables to give one answer, but the thing that has made a difference is good morale and a willingness to wage absolute war with the disease. We are not done yet and are going tomorrow to choose from an array of options, some of whom were not available 6 months ago.
However, these are investigational and the patients who are candidates for this treatment have to be fairly up and about, independent with most daily activities, and out of bed at least half of the waking hours. From your description of your wife, she doesn't seem to be in this fairly active category.
At the present time, the only other treatment known to extend survival after failure of chemotherapy is a second-line chemotherapy.
Hi, My 69 year old Dad has stage 4 Lung nsc cancer that he has been battling for over 2 years with good results from first Tarceva, then Chemo and prior to that radiation to mets to his brain. He is an otherwise healthy, robust, nonsmoking person. Last month he started experiencing problems walking, nausea and headaches. He was referred to a Neurologist who recommended a Shunt to help regulate the fluid in his brain. It has been a nightmare ever since.
So, the plan is a 12 week course of chemotherapy and if it works well for me the possibility of radiotherapy later on and Tarceva too. So now I have to chose which drugs to go with and maybe I'm wrong but I'm thinking that if the Cisplatin works better in reducing the tumors I may have a better chance of the radiotherapy also working more effectively too.
Finally, they started chemo, giving her both Gemzar and Tarceva. Ironically, my mom was a research toxicologist for Eli Lilly and tested Gemzar almost 20 years ago while working for them. The chemo seemed to be working. The cells were showing signs of necrosis in her liver and the tumor on the head of her pancreas was shrinking.
Then, at the beginning of April, she was feeling a lot better but her right arm started swelling.
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