Search Results for 'gemcitabine cisplatin'

I’m happy to answer any questions you have about his treatment or experience so far (for his privacy I’ve chosen to be anonymous on this board). I’m not especially strong in biology, anatomy or any of the life sciences, to be honest. I’m learning the hard way through my husband’s diagnosis. He is 77 yrs old, turning 78 at the end of this year.

He did have a biopsy sample sent out for genetic testing, but unfortunately for him, due to “low tumor purity,” the sample wasn’t usable. His result was “no reportable alterations.” Not because there weren’t any, but simply because they didn’t have a workable sample. His oncologist even tried to have a second testing done with whatever was left of the biopsy sample, but still no results. We were very disappointed. It was bittersweet because the GemCis had knocked the mass on his liver out of existence so there was nothing to get another sample from. I mean, that’s wonderful news, right? But it also meant we couldn’t find a targeted therapy for him. And my husband chose not to pursue any clinical trials because he was not up to the travel they might require. His oncologist decided to put him on Opdivo and Yervoy. I assumed it was not just the best option, but also probably the only option for him. Someone with real knowledge can correct me, but I believe that Opdivo and Yervoy are PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors. What you’ll be taking, Durvalumab, is a PDL-1 inhibitor. (I don’t have any knowledge of the difference between PD-1 and PDL-1).  PDL-1 testing was requested on my husband’s biopsy sample, but there was insufficient sample left to do it. I guess we’ll never know how any targeted therapy might have worked for him, but his non-targeted therapy has been effective, so he’s justifiably happy with it. Durvalumab sounds like a great option… when will your first treatment be?

Back in the winter when my husband was on GemCis, and it started to really kick up his peripheral neuropathy, his doctor wanted to try eliminating the Cisplatin and have him try Gemcitabine alone, but my husband was just… done. He wanted to stop all treatments at first, actually. But once a few weeks had passed and the side effects had started to even out a bit, he decided he wanted to continue treatments as long as it wasn’t with cell-killing drugs. I understand not wanting to change your existing treatment when things are going well because I felt the same when my husband stopped GemCis. It was working beyond our expectations but he wasn’t in full remission yet. His oncologist tried to reassure us at the time by reminding us that these treatment plans/schedules are very fluid and they’re always based on a careful balance between adverse side effects and success. Sometimes you need to take your winnings and leave the casino, right? It was a little like that for my husband when he stopped GemCis. Hard to see him stop when he might be able to get just a little bit more of the disease knocked down. However, the gamble would have been even more extensive peripheral neuropathy pain. So yeah, sometimes a person has to gather up their winnings and walk away. And if your doctor has told you that you could return to GemCis treatments later, if needed, you should take comfort in that, eh? No doors are being closed. You’re just trying something new to see if it works better for you… successful but with less adverse side effects.

We had that rough spot in June when he developed adrenal insufficiency from the Opdivo/Yervoy treatment and landed in the hospital with adrenal crisis, so these checkpoint inhibitors aren’t without the potential for serious side effects, too. But all in all, it’s been a much easier experience than GemCis had been. Bit of a roller coaster ride… one month we’re dealing with diarrhea, the next month it’s extreme constipation. He’s a fall risk because he’s sometimes lightheaded or has muscle weakness (he’s recovering from a nasty fall right now, in fact). That definitely seems related to dehydration at times, so I’m on active Water Intake Patrol duty nowadays, ha ha. He has some confusion at times, but he does have other health concerns so it’s hard for me to know when something is related to his cancer and cancer treatments or if it’s something else.

I’m sorry that I don’t have any resources to suggest regarding genomic testing/genetic alterations. Since we didn’t get any actionable results I didn’t study up on it much. But everything I have found out has been through endless hours of Google searches. I look for academic publications with articles that are over my head but fascinate me anyway, simplified explanations on cancer organization sites, people’s posts on this board, etc. Gavin posts articles on this board every day it seems and he was kind enough to point me toward https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ for my own searches. Enter in a keyword or string of words and you’ll pull up numerous articles to read through (they can be a heavy read, but they can also give you enough information to expand your next Google search with some new keywords).

Hope to keep hearing from you… it’s lovely to chat with someone my husband’s age and who is also sharing a similar treatment course. Wishing you the very best.

Hi Gavin,

I became aware of this study from watching the presentation on it at the annual conference – I admit I only watched part of it as I could not understand the many technical/medical matters.  I am interested in Durvalumab combined with Gemcitabine and Cisplatin.  I have been doing chemo with the latter 2 for stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma for 9 months.  It has been very effective.   the tumors are greatly reduced  and my tumor marker numbers have come down greatly.  I feel good and I have minimal side effects from the treatment.  I noted in the study that after a number of treatment cycles, the chemo was stopped and only the Durvalumab was continued.  My oncologist and I have discussed the trial and possibly using Durvlumab.  My understanding is the 2 chemo drugs were stopped because their purpose is to reduce the cancer, and the Durvalumab is to maintain the cancer at the level reached by the chemo.  These terms and the explanation are mine based on my recollection of the conversation with my oncologist.  I am interested in resources to learn about this and information to help me and my oncologist decide whether to try the chemo/durvalumab combination and how long to treat with all 3 and then stop the chemo.

This is my first day on the discussion board.  I am sure glad there is this resource and the Foundation and its website.

John

Hi All,

this is my first post on discussion board/intro.  My name is John, I am a patient.  Been doing chemo with Gemcitabine and Cisplatin for about 9 months and it has been very effective with minimal side effects.  My oncologist and I are looking at  combining the new immunotherapy from Topaz-1 trial with the 2 chemo drugs.  So I am looking for sources for information for that.  I figure to put an entry about that in another part of the board to seek ideas.  I am sure glad there is this Foundation, website and discussion board.

John