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.
Some centers perform genetic testing to check for mutations that seem to predict response with this medication. Tarceva has a different side-effect profile than conventional chemotherapy - generally milder/less life threatening complications and seems to work well in poor performance status patients.
In general though, plans change depending on how well the cancer responds and the patient tolerates treatment. Keep an open mind and know your options.
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.
This would be dependent on how well he is able to do his daily activities (this is taken as an index of the burden of disease, meaning how much the disease is affecting his daily living), as patients who are very frail may not be able to tolerate the side effects of cytotoxic chemotherapy. Since he had some treatment before, then he would have some insight into how well he was able to tolerate the treatment before.
My father who is now 83 yres old is diagnosed with non small cell cancer with a large 3 inch mass in his upper right side. They state it is somewhere between a stage 2 and 3 due to the size. He is schedules to start radiation treatment in a week. However, they did state he is fit enough to have sugery but there is not guarantee he would not have complications from this. We are struggling to determine what is the better path to take. Will the surgery give him a better chance vs the radiation.
how can i get doctor to prescribe tarceva for inoperable lung cancer with secondary brain cancer has recieved one chemo session for lung then 5 radiotherapy for brain...help??????
The pain i get daily is from my chemo medicine, Tarceva. Along with some other side effects. Losing my hair was bad enough but putting on 20lbs killed me! not really :-\ Anyway, its nice to know i have people out there who really care. I wish there was one of these sites for cancer patients. There probably is but im rarely on the computer. If any of you all are interested, my sister put up a website for me called Gina's Angels. It talks about how im doing and shows pictures and stuff.
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.and his new PET -CT in TURKEY hospital FN shows new FDG(+)SUV max:5) pulmonary nodule in the lower lobe of the lung.
Many medical professional are not very adept at preparing patients for the side effects and/or intervening before they worsen. I realize it is a 50-50 kind of thing and the patient should learn as much as possible beforehand - though as you pointed out, it is a tremendous body of knowledge and rather overwhelming for a layman (which is what I consider myself).
Hi Jennifer,
How are you? Medication side effects may or may not occur to patients. You were given pain medication, anti-inflammatory, antihistamine and antipsychotic/tranqulizer. You may experience gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting and sedative effects. However, it is important that any sign of allergic reaction such as difficulty of breathing, swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat. twitching or tremor will warrant immediate attention. Take care and do keep us posted.
Drug side effects can occur years later which is why you see many drugs being pulled of the market. Clinical trials run for an average of 8 weeks on healthy adults.
Plavix side effects:
"Gastrointestinal (GI) discomfort has occurred in 27.1% of patients (compared with 29.8% of patients who were treated with aspirin in comparative trials). Other GI side effects have included diarrhea in 4.5%, dyspepsia in 5.2%, nausea in 3.4%, and abdominal pain in 5.6% of patients.
sorry to hear your hubby is having a hard time. sounds like he is having some of the common side effects. There is nothing that can boost platlets but many docs let them go really low before lowering or stopping the meds. Try and get back on the full strength of interferon ASAP!
Probably the most common side effect is the itching. I have it as well and it is horrible. I have found some relief with a prescription med called Atarax.
Are there any known side effects for Shen Calmer and Liver Happy Capsules? My dog has been taking them for about a week now. He is taking them for anxiety, no signs of relief yet, but no prescriptions have helped him so this is our last resort. The second day he vomited and the vet said she hadn't ever seen that so we have kept going.
She had 6 months of Avastin/Taxol/Carbo with minimal side effects and the tumor has shrunk. She is now on alimita and her SUV on the MRI has gone down again. You have to keep up hope and be determined to fight this disease!!! Having a positive attitude helps the person with the disease have hope. I thought when my mother was diagnosed that it was an immediate death sentence, especially after reading the statistics.
The treatment requires close medical supervision by a dermatologist because the drug has many known side effects (many of which can be severe). About 25% of patients may relapse after one treatment. In those cases, a second treatment for another 4-6 months may be indicated to obtain desired results.
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