NIH trial – still working!

Hi Melinda,

I was adding your data to my cholangiocarcinoma database and your posts on your participation in the NIH trial really got my attention. Thank you so much for being a pioneer in this clinical trial and posting your results to the discussion boards.

Similar to you, my wife has intrahepatic cc and had a resection (72% of liver removed for a 6.4 cm tumor) with clear margins. Unlike you, however, she had a single positive lymph node and adjuvant therapy. The therapy consisted of 4 cycles (rounds) of GemCis, GemCis on both days 1 and 8 and a Neulasta shot for low WBC count on day 9, and the 3rd week off. Also, she is scheduled to have 3D radiation therapy with 5FU starting next Monday, which will be every M-F for the next five weeks.

She had an enhanced CT scan on 2/15/13, which was 0.43 years after her surgery, and it showed no signs of cc. I suspect recurrence will occur within the first year after her surgery, since that is the case for 19 out of the 24 patients (79%) in my cc database who have intrahepatic cc and have had a resection. Maybe she’ll fair better because only three of the 24 had radiation with chemo and for two of those the chemo was cut short. When, and if, this occurs, this clinical trial will definitely be a possible course of action.

Bruce