Gemzar/Cisplatin Combo – recommendations from Mayo vs. MD Anderson
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My experience with my oncologist goes along with what you say, Marion. When my dosage of Gemzar was reduced and then we had to reduce the Cisplatin and I questioned the effectiveness of the treatment this way, he responded, “We just don’t know.”
Kathy
Tom….Often times the application of chemotherapy varies from physician to physician, as it is in your experience. This can be related to either, personal experience with their own patients or, follow-up studies regarding the effectiveness of the treatments. Either way, it is not unusual for cycles to differ depending of who you are speaking with. There is another thought I have, which may or may not be true. I believe that pharmaceutical companies test the highest, tolerable amount in clinical trials therefore, it is likely that the lower doses of the very same agent may be just as effective, but there is no data to prove it. It will be interesting to see as to how many people respond to your questions re: the cycle of administration of Gem/Cis and how it differs amongst our members.
All my best wishes,
MarionSo, Ben and I met with MD Anderson yesterday for our second opinion (we had visited Mayo first for initial diagnosis of non-resectable CC, input metal stent, etc.). We were really trying to understand best approach for chemotherapy.
MD Anderson and Mayo were pretty aligned around an initial start of Gemzar andCisplatin, where they varied was the frequency. Mayo recommends a treament on Day 1, Day 8 and Day 21. MD Anderson said they have found that treaments every two weeks strikes a nice balance between quality of life and letting the chemo work.
I know from reading that the GEM/CIS combo is the typical starting place now for CC – just curious if anyone has any thoughts or experience on the cycle?
The oncologist at MD (Dr. Rochna Shroff) was very impressive just like all the impressive doctors at Mayo- she also said she would send off a sample of the biopsy to a group that’s doing DNA/genetic analysis on tumors (I didn’t get their name), but they are researching ways to customize chemo treatments based on the genetics of the individual. She said once the gem/cis combo starts working it would help her decide what to do next…anyone ever heard of that?
Ben has decided to have his chemo administered locally in our area (Fort Lauderdale) and overseen by Mayo or MD (he just needs to decide which).
Thanks everyone for your ongoing support and ideas – you are all amazing!
tom
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