Search Results for 'gemcitabine cisplatin'
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Search Results
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Hi all ~
Since I know I was searching for information on chemo and any reactions, what to expect, etc., I thought I’d post how my dad’s first day of Chemo went for any others who feel kind of clueless in this situation.First day of chemo was yesterday and since dad has no Port yet, was done through IV. Nurses were amazing, so kind and very informative. First step was administration of Magnesium sulfate, prior to giving Cisplatin since it can be very damaging on the kidneys. Nurse also gave 2 anti-nausea meds: Dexamethasone (Decadron) and Ondansetron (Zofran) before starting. 45 mg of Cisplatin with Sodium Chloride was then administered slowly — I think it was about an hour and half for this one to finish. More Magnesium sulfate was then given to help the kidneys. Now onto Gemcitabine (Gemzar). I had read about the burning sensation and heating pad used and was ready to ask for it for dad, but the nurse began the IV drip with saline solution (to run fast) in order to help with this possible burning of the Gem. Luckily it worked! No problems whatsoever. 45 minutes later he was done.
Today no nausea, no night sweats. It seems almost surreal with all the dreading my family had with the chemo treatments. Keeping our fingers crossed for the next few days.
Thanks to all the information on the boards, I think preparing for the worst is important and a great relief when the worst skips us by.
Lourdes
In reply to: Evaluating Clincial Trials
Hi,
it will help me if you can tell me which clinical trial or trials you are interested in.
Systemic chemo agent s only or combined with radiation?
In general, 5FU and gemcitabine are the 2 first-line chemo agents used the most.Cisplatin,oxaliplatin,carboplatin(the platin group),epirubicin, irinotecan are the other agents being used too.
For systemic therapy clinical trials that are available,most of them are adding one or two molecularly targeted therapy agent(ie, all those agents the names ended with nib or mab) to the first-line agents to see whether the combo is more effective and/or produce less side effects.
But again, the most important thing is to know exactly what kind of CC first;where is it located and how advance the stage the tumor growth is.” The role of systemic chemotherapy is evolving in patients with advanced cholangiocarcinoma.No single chemotherapy agent or combination regimen consistently leads to tumor shrinkage,forestalls recurrent obstruction following palliative intervention.” from the literature review version 19.1 revised on Jan.2011 : uptodate.com
From the patient’s point of view,I do not think it is our responsibility to choose which clinical trial for our self; for our knowledge is very limited.It should be the responsibility of the oncologist, and other specialists to make the final call base on the diagnosis and findings they made.
But we,as patient or caregiver,should learn as much as possible,before,during and after the treatment;to question the specialists,the oncologists and other health professionals;to keep them on their toes and in return hoping that we have tried our best for our love ones and what we do will be of benefit to others who are also suffer from this disease-it is for sure a long and winding road that required courage and knowledge to navigate .
God bless.In reply to: Diagnosed with CC
Good for you Jukka, if that’s what you want, go for it!! My Ben went out and bought a Porsche after his diagnosis (I thought he was crazy) but he has loved every minute of it (and so have I).
As for your chemo recommendation, Ben just finished what is known as the standard protocol for CC, a combination of Cisplatin and Gemcitabine and his tumors are almost gone (you can read his history in the chemotherapy section of the board). It looks like GEMOX is a combination of Gemcitabine and oxyplatin so sounds like it’s close, I know others have been on that combination but don’t know what the difference is…
Tom
In reply to: Ben’s “amazing” scans…
That is GREAT news Tom! My dad is just on his second cycle of gemcitabine and Cisplatin.I am praying his results will be as good! Enjoy your time together and enjoy life one day at a time! Kathy
Topic: Some questions and update
Hello everyone ~
I wanted to thank everyone for their information on my last post. Haven’t been on in a while trying to get things going. We got a second opinion at UCLA, which I was disappointed in ~ but what can you do. Sticking to current doctors, who haven’t seen a lot of CC patients, but she seems to be up to date on her information which gives us a vote of confidence.
My dad is supposed to start chemo next week (combination of Gemcitabine and Cisplatin) and we were told it will take about 4-5 hours. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to expect on this drug combination? We’ve read side effects and were told that Gemcitabine causes a lot of fatigue so trying to be prepared for that…
My other question is if anyone knows of support groups for CC specifically. We are in Southern California and I don’t seem to find much. If anyone knows of anyone in the same vicinity or of groups that would be great. I am the one that generally stops by this site to soak up information, which is wonderful by way!
~Lourdes
In reply to: GEMOX treatment
In reply to: Cholangiocarcinoma
Hi,
I did finish reading the article,informative and not difficult to understand even if you are not in the medical field.
It is a summary of what cholangiocarcinoma is and its treatment. If you donot have enough time,just try to read the” Key points section” to know about the different type of CC;look at figure 1,figure 2 and figure 3 and the info.that just below them to understand how doctors make up their decisions;read the Box 2 about the risk factors and Box 3 for current investigational approaches for CC treatment.
The author points out that distinguish pathological and clinical characteristics of Intrahepatic and ductal CC may affect the effective of systemic treatment;as the author points out that “in contrast to patients with intrahepatic CC, the combination of gemcitabine with cisplatin does not seem to offer an advantage for those with ductal cancers”
Thanks again,Gavin.In reply to: Life after chemo
Hello again and thanks for all your replies. Totally understand the pilot thing, and I think I’m guilty of that. I should have learnt by now that with this, little boxes don’t work – they have to with my job, but not here. I guess I am trying to find something to cling to that is certain about my wife, if that doesnt sound too daft. Living each day is the thing, I understand that, but I hare the thought of my wife leaving me. Jolly, to answer your question, she was on Gemcitabine (spelling?!), Cisplatin & 5FU. She is doing well, in work most days, but getting mire breathless, veins are up all over the place, her hair is really thin, distended abdomen, and her appetite is nothing like it used to be. But, we are trying to live each day. Some anger issues are surfacing which I am now trying to help my wife with – that’s not easy. We are taking a day trip to Bridlington (East Coast Yorkshire town) for a short beach walk tomorrow, then fish & chips in Whitby. Thankyou all for your time and help. I hope we get to see over our valley in summertime again, enjoying the sun and listening to the sheep from our balcony. Who knows!
In reply to: My dad newly diagnosed questioning treatment choices
Polly has your husbands tumors/cancer shrunk at all or held the growth at bay? Dad is starting the Cisplatin and gemcitabine chemo on Tuesday.I am praying for good results.The surgeon still feels surgery is too risky.His tumor is not where we all had thought.It is more central in the liver and is touching in all 3 lobes.He still has no symptoms and no blockage in the main bile ducts.Hope we can keep that from happening.This is so hard to believe he is even sick.I am grieving his illness before he is even sick.He is so hopeful and declares he will beat this.I hope he is right.When the average statistics say most people live 6 to 12 months after diagnosis it scares the hell out of me. I need to learn not to listen to statistics I guess if I want to remain hopeful.
In reply to: My dad newly diagnosed questioning treatment choices
Kathy,
My husband has been on Cisplatin and Gemcitabine for 8 rounds (16 treatments) and it is working very well with few side effects. Tired and feeling under the weather seem to be the worst of it.
Encourage you Dad to give those drugs a try first.
We just got back from the oncologist.My dad was diagnosed with CC and they cannot do surgery at this time.Too risky.They want to do rounds of chemotherapy with Gemcitabine and Cisplatin.They also asked if we wanted to participate in a trial instead.It is A Phase 2 study of AZD2171 (Cediranib) with modified FOLFOX6.The side effects of the FOLFOX6 are scary even though the % is low. I am wondering though if this would give him a better shot. anyone have any thoughts or knowledge of this?
My dad was just diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma.We just got back from the oncologist.We are so overwhelmed.They said surgery is out right now.too dangerous.They want to start chemo.The dr wants to do a combo of cisplatin and Gemcitabine OR a clinical trial if we choose of phase 2 study of AZD2171(cediranib) with modified FOLFOX6. anyone heard of this trial or been on any of these medications that could possibly give us some insight.The slim but possible side effects of the FOLFOX6 are really scary.
In reply to: Close friend newly diagnosed
Hi Sdas,
I am glad to hear you say that you will fight and I do hope that your friend will fight this also. Yes there is hope and I wish that you and your friend do not give up hope. I know from my dads fight with CC that he got some bad news along the way, such as a result from a CT scan that we didn’t want to get or that he couldn’t try this or that treatment. And when he got such news it would knock him back a bit after he heard it and it was hard to take. But my dad bounced back and a day or two later he felt a lot better and was thinking along the lines of “okay, we can’t do that so what can we do next then”. It might not feel like it right now, but you and your friend will bounce back and then the next stage of the fightback will begin.
Did your friends doctor talk about what type of chemo they would do, such as the Gemcitabine / Cisplatin combination? There are many types and combinations of chemo and many of the members here have shared their experiences of chemo. If you look at the chemo board or use the search function at the top of the page then you will find a ton of discussions from the members here about chemotherapy.
You ask what is the prognosis now with chemo and this is a question that neither I or anyone else here can answer for you. We are not doctors, and can not give medical advice like that. Members here will share their experiences of chemo and what it was like, but no one can say what the prognosis is for anyone.
One other thing I would mention to you is about the possibility of your friend seeking a second or even a third opinion. Is this something that your friend has done or would consider doing? Again I will say to you that I hope that you and your friend do not give up hope. Please keep coming back here as much as you want, even if you feel like venting, shouting or letting off some steam. We know how you feel and what you and your friend are going through, and if you have any more questions then please ask and we will all do what we can to help.
My best wishes to you and your friend,
Gavin
Topic: Husband diagnosed May 2010
My husband was diagnosed last May….we thought he had food poisoning, with his nausea. We didnt notice the jaundice, which appeared gradually. He hadn’t told me of his lack of energy, or his dark urine. So many symptoms, which went unnoticed until too late. His first round of chemo was Gemcitabine and Oxaliplatin. The tumor shrank some, a little more than 20%, but not enough for resection. This was followed by six weeks of radiation paired with oral doses of Xeloda. Not only was there no shrinkage, but now it looks like the cancer may have spread to the lymph nodes. The doctor laid out the next round of chemo….Gemcitabine paired with Cisplatin this time.
We went for a second opinion at Mayo………despite all the different therapies listed on their Website, they said that with the size and position of my husband’s tumor, the conventional chemotherapy is all they could offer, with the same drugs that MUSC plans.
My husband is becoming resigned that nothing will work…that we are just buying time. Meanwhile, everyone is calling about every controversial treatment plan they have heard of………
I’m glad to find this site….perhaps there will be something we can use to help improve his treatment.
Hi Sharon, My husband Doug (59) has stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma with mets to the liver and bone. We are on cycle 3 of gemcitabine and cisplatin.
We also see a naturopath and Doug takes naturopathic supplements and treatments. He takes pill form supplements at meals and different ones inbetween meals to boost his immunity. We mix “alka powder” in warm water once or twice a day to help bring down the acid levels in his blood (high acid is common in cancer patients). He has a liver detox kit of drops that he puts in water to sip on throughout the day.
Doug takes another pill called DCA twice a day dissolved in warm water. You can read a report about it online by the University of Alberta. The DCA builds up the mitochondria in your cells (which get damaged by cancer). I give him a shot each day of Helixor (mistletoe) which is a natural chemo but it is also boosts the effects of regular chemo. There are many different naturopathic routes that you can discuss with your integrative doctor.
We chose to do both conventional and naturopathic with Doug because his cancer is so advanced but I have read Suzanne Somers book with accounts of people who just did naturopathic. I think one has to believe in whatever path they chose. Our naturopathic doctor supported us fully in the decision to do both. The conventional onocologist said that they prefer that people do not take naturopathic while doing chemo but it was up to us and he wasn’t stongly against.
Doug’s liver markers and tumor markers have been coming down since November. Interestingly he did not start chemo until December 15th, so it was only the naturopathic that was effecting those numbers (started naturopathic in October) After chemo started and we were continuing the naturopathic the numbers dropped even faster – so the combo was good. Next week he gets a scan to see how the tumors look – our fingers are crossed.
I do not know where you live but we are in British Columbia and Doug’s and my extended medical plans cover the naturopathic visits and any testing but unfortunately do not cover medicines. Some can be quite expensive but we are finding them worthwhile.
Oh, Doug takes biphosphonates for his bone mets. The naturopath suggested to see if the onocologist would prescribe them because then they are paid for – which he did.
Sounds like you mom is doing well. I wish you all the best! Let me know if you want more info on the drops and supplements. Take care.
Nancy
