Same drug + different procedure can give different results?

[Anonymous99]

Hi,

My brother was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in yearly 2006 when he was just 28. He underwent a full year of chemo (FOLFOX) with very good initial results, but in December it wasn't working anymore. He changed to another chemo protocol in January (whose name I can't remember) but without results either. The good news is that he is very strong and physically fine.

Right now we have two distinct advices from two different hospitals:
- Combine the same products but using a very tight delivery schedule (they call it chrono-chemotherapy).
- Enter a stage I clinical trial (I have few details on this).

Right now I have a specific question. Is it possible that drugs that are no longer having any effect, be again active if administered differently?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
S.

[sean]

Is it possible that drugs that are no longer having any effect, be again active if administered differently?

Thats probably a question to ask an oncologist. Everyone reacts differently so it would certainly seem possible. If the effectiveness change was due to the dosage level of oxaliplatin, you may ask about a protocol called OPTIMOX which I think is FOLFOX7 6 cycles on with breaks to just maintain tumor size and help minimize the side effects of oxaliplatin. I stumbled across this a few days ago so I don't know a lot. It was phase III in 2004. Here's the ASCO summary:

http://www.asco.org/portal/site/ASCO/me ... actID=2639

Its also known as "stop and go" (scroll down):

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/554064

I wish your brother the best.