Asians, women, non-smokers, and those with adenocarcinoma histology. This drug still has been found to benefit males, smokers, and those with squamous cell histology, but to a lesser extent.
Thanks for your response. To clarify: his treatment was adjunctive. At the time they saw no sign of cancer outside the lung. Now, however, after 4 rounds of chemotherapy the disease seems to have spread during treatment with taxotere and cisplatin: it's now in the liver, bones and adrenal glands. His original tumor was EGFR positive that is why Tarceva came up as a viable second step.
My mom has been diagnosed with Stage 3b/4 nsclc and will begin radiation and chemo immediately. She also has pleural effusion and the doctors are taking out the chest tube and inserting a catheter. I am hopeful to shrink the cancer enough to get her airways unblocked and she can leave the hospital. I keep getting the feeling the doctors don't want to tell me how bad this is. I myself am preparing for the worse, but i would like to know what your opinion is.
Edema (fluid accumulation in any body part, resulting in swelling) has been reported as an adverse event in 37% of pancreatic cancer patients taking Tarceva, although this side effect has not been reported in lung cancer cases.
However, the type of edema associated with Tarceva use is either generalized or involves a swelling of both legs. Swelling in only one leg may not be due to this drug. Unilateral leg swelling may be due to a local infection (cellulitis) in that area.
Non-small cell lung carcinoma staging and Manchester score
Prognostic factors in non-small cell lung cancer include presence or absence of pulmonary symptoms, tumor size, cell type (histology), degree of spread (stage) and metastases to multiple lymph nodes, and vascular invasion. For patients with inoperable disease, prognosis is adversely affected by poor performance status and weight loss of more than 10%.
My brother, 50 years old, has Stage IV NSCLC (adeno);diagnosed September 2013; 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….
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.
Thanks, we know the prognosis is as bad as it could be, any tips to build her up, we have tried drinks (which she doesn't like), high calorie foods etc., but she just has no appetite, should we just accept this or continue to try different foods? I am worried that she may go on to develop other brain symptoms as working in nursing have seen patients like this before - it's very different when your own mum is facing this.
The key words here are selected (selected patients) and individualized (individualized approach). This highlights the fact that there is an advantage, but the intervention is not for everybody.
The decision is not simply, let’s do it, there is an evaluation about how much lung to be removed and whether or not it can be tolerated. Perhaps you could consider having him undergo the evaluation to check whether or not he would have sufficient lung reserve for it, before you make your decision.
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..
Hello,
My mother is 46, was diagnosed with stage 3b nsclc, and now they believe that it has spread to the neck and god forbid the brain. She started round 2 of chemo on monday and the side effects are kicking her butt, so she has decided to not go on with treatment any longer. I don't want to believe what the doctor has told me about how long she will be here, but they said 9 to 15 months WITHOUT treatment. Do you agree with them or should we go for a second opinion?
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.
Hello. So very sorry you received no response. Can you please update us and we'll go from there? This sounds very stressful and I am sure you can use some support.
My M-I-Law has stage 4 NSCLC spread to the adrenal glands and liver but they never checked to see if it had gone into the bones. She has just complained today of needing her knee/leg rubbed when she woke from her sleep.
Is it also possible to go into the bone and not know it. She has not been seen by the oncologist since Feb 08 when she turned treatment down so we really don't have a clue how things progress. Family doctor was by 4 weeks ago and said things were okay.
recently my father has been diagnosised with stage I lung cancer(Nsclc) He has been given the decision to have chemo or not, He is a very viable 73 year old, who lives a good life, and looks like he is 60. No real medical problems, just on meds for high blood pressure. He had a lobectomy, with no spread to the lymph nodes.
NO one can tell us, should he take the preventative chemo, or not ! I (his daughter) am very concerned about problems that the chemo could cause. What is your advice!!!!!!
What is the prognosis of someone with nsclc Stage 3 (adenocarcinoma) who went through 6 weeks of radiation and corresponding 6 weeks of chemo (carboplatin and taxol) without progression. His primary tumor at start was 7 cm x 6 cm. It shrunk to 5,7 cm x 5,7 cm at end of radiation and chemo. He was then placed on immunotherapy (Imfinzi) for 1 year with good results until now. He was off the Imfinzi for a year when progression occurred. His primary tumor went from 2.3 cm x 1.
My 81 year old mom came to live with us do to memory issues. Because she was so thin I took her to see her Pcp...Severe emphysema in both lungs, stage 3 nsclc, and mild dementia. She was put on hospice in July of 2014. Her decline is extremely slow. Because of the dementia she does not remember the cancer diagnosis. I wonder if that is what keeps her going. Her dementia is now stage 5, well into the moderate stages.
My mother in law is 86 years old and was diagnosed with NSCLC aggressive - stage 4 in February. She was given 6 months maybe a bit longer with chemo. She turned down the chemo and stopped taking her heart medication. She was given oxygen because she was at 83% level. She stayed on the oxygen for 2 weeks and has since turned it off. She has no pain, coughs up phlem (takes cough medicine perscribed by the doctor).
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....
My husband was diagnosed with Stage IV NSCLC on 2/11/2009. Metastasis is to all lymph nodes in neck and chest and to his spine. Pleural effusion was just drained last Wednesday (March 11, 2009) while hospitalized for pneumonia. We are waiting for pneumonia to clear before they will start chemo.
My husband is 6 feet tall and at his healthiest, weighs about 155 pounds. He has already lost 10 pounds since 2/11/2009 even though he is eating and eating and eating.
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