gemzar and cisplatin together
- This topic has 30 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 3 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Can anyone tell me the treatment schedule for the gemcis study that came out of the UK?
My doctors have me doing 30min gem and 1hr cis for 2 thursdays in a row then one week off. I just want to be sure they are following the protocol.
Thanks – Mel
Hi Marion,
I am being treated at Princess Margaret Hospital. They are wonderful, and really know their stuff. I feel the need to be more aggressive right now in my treatment as I feel healthy and feel I could take on a little more “punishment”. I have found that MD Anderson is performing treatment with proton beam therapy and chemo together. I am going to contact them to see if they can do anything for me – the problem with living in Canada is our health system. They are very conservative in what they spend money on. I believe the only place with a proton beam in canada is the university of BC and they are only treating patients with ocular cancer at the moment.
Thank you,
MelMel….there is a physician familiar with Cholangiocarcinoma at Princess Margaret Hospital. Don’t know whether you are looking for a second opinion but, just in case:
Sean P. Cleary, BScH, MD, MSc, FRCSC
Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery
University Health Network
Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital
Tel: 416.340.533Thank you so much Jamie!! I needed to hear that.
I am being treated at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. It is Canada’s cancer hospital. They are excellent, but I feel the need for more aggressive treatments. I just want to get rid of this cancer.
I wish you all the best,
MelHi Mel;
Yes I was diagnosed Oct 07 with Stage 4 intrahepatic cc. I had an open and close surgery and was told resection was not an option. Started Gemzar/Xeloda in Nov 07. I had a resection in June 08. You can do a search of my previous posts to see whole story. Don’t give up. Miracles do happen. I had clear scans up until this June. I am back on chemo and battling this monster again. I am not giving up. Don’t you. Where are you getting your treatments?
Take care and God Bless,
JamieHi All,
I am 37yrs old and have stage IV intrahepatic CC. They tried me on gem only for 3 mths. Didn’t really work. On Thursday this week they will start me on the combo of gem/cis. I have been getting radiation on this week o the tumor they found on my pelvic bone. They told me surgery is no longer an option. I have to ask – has anyone been at stage IV and then after chemo treatments been able to have surgery? I need a miracle – we all need a miracle!
Thanks,
MelHi Marion – better late reply than never right? I was diagnosed with intrahepatic cc in July of 2008. Failed resection in August 2008, started Gem/Cis in September 2008. Had successful resection in Feb 2009. On my last round of Gem/Cis clean up chemo, feeling Ok so far. I have new scans scheduled for next week. Here’s hoping and praying!
Gemzar (gemcitabine) + cisplatin: I was on this combination for several months last year and had a good response; shrinkage and stabilization of all lesions (7 of them!), enough to perform radiofrequency ablation. Read Marion’s post about this elsewhere on this site. They are discovering that gemzar + cisplatin works far more effectively in combination than either drug given alone. It is also becoming common to add a third drug to this combo, like Avastin (bevacizumab) or Tarceva (erlotinib).
Anyone out there who is on Gemzar alone, ask your onco about combining it with cisplatin!
Violarob in Texas
Suzanne….were you diagnosed with intrahepatic CC? I tried looking up your previous postings and could not find anything in regards to the diagnoses. I am so happy that you are doing so well.
I am also 46 and was diagnosed with Stage IV in December 2008 with mestastisis to my spine and liver. I did 3 weeks of radiation for the tumor on my spine. I have been doing gemzar since January. I plan on talking to my oncologist about adding cisplatin when I see him later this month. Best wishes for your brother’s treatment.
I was on Gemzar/Xeloda for about 18 months and they worked to stop the tumor from growing, but it didn’t stop it from metastasizing to the lungs. Gemzar is usually tolerated pretty well.
Hi Alleycattty –
I’m 43 and was on Gem/Cis for about 5 rounds last year. It didn’t cause any shrinkage but my tumors didn’t progress. The tumors remained stable enough that I was able to have resection surgery this past February. I am currently on Gem/Cis for clean up chemo. I mainly am tired from the chemo, have had no major nausea, nothing compazine and zofran can’t handle. I’ve had to get injections to boost my white blood cell count and my rbc count. But my numbers always bounce back in time for the next round. My best to your brother, tell him to hang in there and stay strong!alleycatty: welcome and I happy to hear that you have become a poster. The abstract of the above news flash regarding the two drugs working in combination for advanced CC will be presented at the upcoming ASCO, the end of this month. I will post anything, pertaining to this break-through. At this time there has not been any clarification as to what the criteria is such as, mestastases, size of tumors, etc. I would however, make sure that the oncologist treating your brother is aware of the newest development.
Thanks for your response. My bro is only 46 and he was recently diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma with masses on his liver biggest being 7 cm. and some smaller ones. It has also spread to his spine. He had two sessions of chemo so far so this is all pretty new. He has responded fairly well but very tired.
thanks for the welcome and I have become a frequent reader and probably now a poster!My Mom (77) was on both when she was diagnosed at stage IV with mets to the lungs. She went every two weeks for chemo and did I think 6 rounds. Later the doctors added Nexavar and Xeloda.
I firmly believe it gave her much more time. She was diagnosed in May 2008 and died April 3, 2009. Her prognosis with stage IV mets would usually be 6 to 8 months. She was able to dance at her Granddaughters’ wedding in December and see the birth of her second great grandchild in October.
She tolerated both extremely well with only some “cold neuropathy” that lasted two days after the chemo. (This annoyed her since she wasn’t able to have her milkshake on those days!) She had no nausea or any other side effects from the drugs.
I hope your brother does well and want to warmly welcome both of you to the site. You can also use the search engine on the site to query other posts.
I’m sorry you had to find us but you will find amazing information and the most caring and compasssionate people in the world on this site.
Hugs!
Pam
- The forum ‘Good News / What’s Working’ is closed to new topics and replies.