We know the tumor is in a slightly different area than it was originally. He is in treatment (Temodar for the second time) for the third recurrence of his tumor. We have always been told it is in an area where surgery has not been an option. The oncologist does say he believes it is a higher grade. We think he believes it is glioblastoma but he won't say that definitely without doing another biopsy.
If I saw a legit pharm name like Roche, Schering-Plough, Merck, etc I would take em a little more seriously. Based on the name I give the compound thumbs down. ; )
I jest a little, but not much.
Get the data, do some research, then decide.
s a matter of drug costs perhaps the Commitment to Care Program offered by Schering-Plough will qualify you for free meds. I was approved by them because I did not have rx coverage but then my doc got the meds directly from his drug rep under his "samples program". These meds are through Roche. Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a) and Copegus (ribavirin) which is Roche and Pegintron (peginterferon alfa-2b) and Rebetol (ribavirin) which is Schering-Plough.
Patient Assistance Programs – If unable to access care through the previously described routes, both the manufacturers of the peg-interferon (Schering-Plough) and ribavirin (Roche Pharmaceuticals) have patient assistance programs. If a person meets these programs’ eligibility requirements, they may be able to receive the medications at a low-cost or for free.
However, I do fit the criteria they are looking for the Schering Phase 3 trial. I am trying to do some research on this trial, but not able to find very much. Is any one famaliar with this trial and if so could you give me some information.
A month ago my husband (41) had a tumor resection of a GBM in the left temporal/frontal lobe. He is still recovering from surgery and has begun cancer treatment (temodar& radiation) a week ago. He has a previous accident injury where he has struggled with neck pain for ten years. He has been on suboxone for probably 7 years now. He is currently taking his suboxone but is not getting any relief for his head pain.
He has genotype 1 as well, which is the worst kind. I checked with the drug company Schering who manufactures Peg Intron and Ribavirin and they have programs to help people who cannot afford the therapy. You need to speak to a gastroenterologist or hepatologist and find out what they say. Also many hospitals will treat you at no cost to you - you need to be aggressive about this because there should be help out there.
Here is a webpage with many links to the IDEAL study; this was sponsored by Schering Plough Pharmaceuticals to evaluate the differences between the two drugs. Not an easy task, as the results show.
The official party line indicates there is very little difference between the two drugs in treatment outcomes, but there has been discussion about the study design that might be less than ideal :o).
http://tinyurl.
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