Search Results for '5fu'

Kelli,

You have a lot of good questions and I wish there were clear and concise answers to them. First off, I’m interested why your oncologist wants to start off with Taxol. The only proven chemo to work with cholangio up to this point is Gemcitabine, and 5FU seems to also work. Tricia took one dose of Taxol and immediately lost all her hair (darn it). Gemcitabine and 5FU don’t have this effect although there are some others. You may want to talk with your oncologist about his chemo choice and why. You should also be looking into Avastin and possibly Erbitux or some of the other targeted therapies on the chemo spreadsheet. They have been working for several patients on the website.

There are several people who are looking at alternative therapies on this website but I haven’t heard specifics on anything that is working. Our naturopathic Dr. gave us some Avemar – which we had been studying and Mark will start that immediately. She has seen a couple of patients completely healed using it. She also suggested the Gerson Diet (or lifestyle) they call it. You can look it up online at http://www.gerson.org – they have a lot of very interesting stories of complete healing from all kinds of cancer on their disc – which I watched last week – especially interested in the patients that were cured from Peritoneal cancer and pancreatic cancer doing this diet. Just something to look into.

Good luck – keep us updated.

Hi Mybro’sSis

I believe that Capecitabine (Xeloda) is an oral version of Fluoroucil (5FU) with less side effects and obviously more convenient to take as a pill than having 5FU by IV. In 2005 the US FDA approved its use, alone, as a therapy for metastatic clorectal cancer. (It seems that drugs used for digestive tract cancers, eg CC, often start off as colorectal cancer drugs).

But I’ve read that 5FU has been found to be much more effective (again for colorectal cancer) when combined with oxaliplatin (and presumably Capecitabine + Oxaliplatin may also be a superior combination). For example, see:

http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/capecitabine0705

You might wish to discuss this with Dave’s oncologist who may have good reasons for wanting to use Capecitabine alone.

Geoff

Geoff,

Here are my suggestions: I’ll try to go right down your list. There are others who know more than me out there, so (others) please feel free to correct or add to what is here.

Avastin: I think if you are doing chemo it is a must – it has boosted good results with every kind of cancer it has been tried on. Check pub med and you will find several studies/articles/peer-reviewed materials there that can help you. Also, you can go to the “Getting Avastin” area on the website – there is a post there through me from a good Dr. friend and he gives several good suggestions on getting Avastin into your regimen.

Davanat: You can’t get it. Hopefully Caroline will keep us updated on the progress with her compassionate use request, but other than that it really isn’t available and there aren’t any peer-reviewed articles to read on it.

Sorafenib: I think we were all hopeful that this one would do a better job with cholangio, I haven’t heard any good results from this trial – perhaps Hans knows more as he was also on the trial (which did not work for him either).

XL119 – I have not studied this drug and so I can not speak to its efficacy but pubmed should be able to help you out there as well.

Immunotherapy is just coming so we will all be watching this one.

As far as alternative therapies, I will know much more about this and the direction we will be going with Mark next week. We have our appointment to lay everything out and we are very interested to see how this will go. I should tell you that one of the reports that I read said that AHCC and Avemar together were having excellent results so this is something we will be going after as well.

Mark’s scan was yesterday and so we are patiently waiting to hear the results. If what they say is true and the amount of rash determines how well the Erbitux is working then he should be cancer free (haha). We’ll let you know.

5FU and Xeloda are the same thing. Just in different forms. Mark is on 5FU, Avastin and Erbitux right now, he is tolerating them far better than the GemOx (Gemcitabine & Oxaliplatin with Avastin) that he was doing before – so we will see.

Hope this is helpful, but I hope others will post as well. It is always best to have many opinions.

Good Luck, keep us updated!
Stacie

I want to agree with the previous posts that you are in a good position if your brother was considered a surgical candidate. Now, the crucial thing for him becomes the systemic treatment with chemo.

However, you need to give another try to get a combination chemo for him. Your best bet will be to combine gemcitabine with 5FU/Xeloda (same drug administered differently) or one of the platins (Carboplatin, Cisplatin or Oxaliplatin) there is a lot of information and studies on these drugs. Start pulling them up and work with your insurance or oncologist now to get him on some kind of combination of drugs, he will have a much better result if your oncologist will do this.

Just a follow-up question. One of the previous replies said that Davanat “also has a competitive interaction with the liver. It basically coats the liver so that 5-fu cannot get in there and hurt the liver.”

Does this mean that if you have tumors in your liver that the 5FU wouldn’t get it to them?

I had starting looking into this clinical trial for my sister (with BDC) and a friend (with colon cancer) but both of them have tumors in their livers.

Thanks!

I was diagnosed with metastatic bile duct cancer in Sept. 2003. I was not a candidate for surgery. I had 9 months of Gemzar/ cisplatin, then after a break of a few weeks started on Zelota (5FU). I was able to stay on that for 9 months before growth in my liver tumors and lungs started. I also had a metastasis to my hip.
My latest drug was Taxotere. It has worked well for almost a year but my doctors feel it has run it course. I was told a fourth round of Chemo usually isn’t helpful. I am looking for a trial (as are my doctors) that may be helpful to me as stopping treatment isn’t an option in my mind. My liver function is still normal and has been all along. I live in central MA near CT and only 1 1/2 hr from Boston. I have received great treatment at home and at Mass General. has anyone had any similar experiences and does anyone have any suggestions?

Dear Amilcar,

My wife has been battling stage IV cholangiocarcinoma for 13 months. The only chemo that helped her was a phase I clinical trial of XL119 and oxaliplatin. SHe has tried gemzar, taxotere, 5FU, and a combination chemo. After she was removed from the clinical trial, she rapidly got worse and her time is now very short.

One thing you learn is that what helps one patient doesn’t work for another. Find an expert in Seattle and follow their suggestions.

Mike,
I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your wife. My husband, Frank, was diagnosed with cc in Feb 2005. He underwent surgery (Columbia Presbyterian in NYC – Dr. Jean Emond) in April 2005, followed by radiation and 5FU, then Gemzar and Oxyplatin chemotherapys which finally ended in Dec 2005 (adjunctive treatment recommended by Sloan-Kettering – NYC and performed by Morristown Memorial – NJ). His CAT scan as of Feb 2006 was clean and as of last Saturday, the cancer has returned both inside and outside the liver. We are devastated as we know his time is limited. He has already undergone a cholangiogram which offers minor relief and will begin palliative chemo on 4/17/06. Is there anything you can recommend to make his remaining time more comfortable?