erbitux, xeloda, and avastin chemo regimen

[Morna]

i'm stage iv with mets to the liver. i've been on a chemo break since the 3rd week in november, however my cea has risen and 2 lesions have grown. the onc. wants to put me on this combination of drugs (xeloda, avastin, and erbitux). has anyone been on this combo? if so, was it effective? i've been on all 3 drugs, but not in combination with one another. any info will be greatly appreciated. thanks.

[rthornton]

Morna,

I was originally diagnosed stage IV with liver mets in May '05, with the liver part not able to be resected. So, I used 5FU/Oxaliplatin + Avastin for six treatments and was in remission. Then I switched to Erbitux + Avastin for a few months as a maintenance regimen, took a month long chemo break, and found I had a recurrence in my liver (this time it was resectable). Since that surgery I have been on Xeloda + Avastin, and haven't had any new cancer show up on scans (although I found out today that my CEA is ever so slightly elevated, which could be due to many factors so I'm not terribly bothered by it). My next scan is in March, so we'll see what happens then.

So I haven't used those three drugs all at once, and can't speak for the combo of those three drugs simultaneously, but if you haven't used Erbitux before I urge you to talk to your doctor about starting some kind of antibiotics to control the rash, when you start on the drug. The rash is annoying as all hell (but supposedly if you get the rash then that means the drug is working).

If you are interested in what antibiotics I used to half-way control the rash, just PM me and I'll give you the list and answer any other questions that I can.

Best wishes,
Rodney