Gemcitabine question
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Dear Lorna, you are a very special lady as sometimes it is very hard to step back and allow the patient to make their own decision but it really is theirs to make. When my Teddy decided no Chemo I had to honor it and never said a word but then he was told it was only palliative and would not help. He chose quality over quantity of life and as it turned out it was the correct decision.
I have to ask you if this is your real name or is it from the Book/Movie? Or just the name you picked for the site. Lorna Doone was one of my most favorite movies!Hi Serena,
So sorry to hear about your mom. I pray that whatever decision she makes will keep her with you for many, many years to come. My boyfriend decided to go with the chemo mainly because of the very high recurrence of this type of cancer as well as 1 lymph node involvement.
He started on the Gem but only did 3 cycles because it was too hard on him. His white blood count and platlets were very low and never seemed to bounce back. Although he is very healthy, in the past year he has had back surgery, neck surgery and liver resection so i believe he never had time to recover before starting chemo.
He also stuggled with the fact that the doctors said they have no evidence that adjuvent chemo will even be beneficial. So after 3 rounds and many, many hours of struggling with the decision he decided to stop the chemo this past June.
On sept 5th he had his second scan since surgery and to our absolute horror it showed recurrence to the liver.
So as you already know it is a personal decision and your mom has to do what she feels in her heart is best for her. I stand by my boyfriend and will be by his side through every step of this horrible unpredictable disease as I am sure you will be with your mom. God bless you both. Please keep us posted on what she decides and how she is doing.Lorna
LornaDoone wrote:Does anyone have experience with gemcitabine alone? Oncologist suggested both gemcitabine and cepcitabine post liver resection to kill off any micro cells that may be lingering. If no cancer exists wouldnt gem be enough to kill off any cells? I appreciate any input.Hi LornaDoone,
I’m glad you asked this question, as it is what my mom’s oncologist recommended gemcitbine alone for 6 months, once a week infusion as adjuvant chemo post resection. The oncologist said gem alone since we are cleaning up microscopic cells. But i’m learning on this site that many people post-resection actually receive duo chemo regimen. I’m curious to hear if anyone else has done gem alone and how did they feel.
LornaDoone, what did you end up deciding or finding out?
Thank you
SerenaI am not familiar with gem alone…but similar to kris’s husband I have been offered the gem/ox post resection as well in case of any microscopic cells.
Lorna….Gemzar (gemcitabine) had been a standard of treatment. The ABC-1 and ABC-2 clinical trial (UK) compared to gemcitabine alone, the chemotherapy combination of cisplatin and gemcitabine and data showed improved overall survival of patients with locally advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma. This is data reflects results of patients with detectable disease however; given the fact that we don’t have any other large scale studies proven otherwise, physicians like to use this reasoning for adjuvant therapy as well. To this date we still don’t have prove whether adjuvant therapy is beneficial, but we are awaiting results of some studies within this year.
Hugs,
MarionLorna –
My husband did Gem plus Oxaliplatin for 6 months after his resection. I know that most often the Gem is given in combination with something else, most often I think I have seen the Cisplatin and the Oxaliplantin but there will be many more who should chime in on this.
I had pretty much the same question for our Onc in regards to the chemoradiation that we just started. Why would be want to do chemo if the cancer was gone? He said that if you think of the cancer like a weed in your yard (I think dandelions since I have so many) and they scatter seeds all over then you use a systemic weed killer over the whole yard to kill off those scattered seeds that you can’t see. We are now on the chemoradiation which he equated to going back with a spot killer.
I am not sure about Gem alone but I am sure someone will answer.KrisV
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