SECOND LINE THERAPY?

[naomi]

hi everyone!! My brother in law was just told that his onc sees evidence that his folfiri treat ment is no longer effective after 6 months of treatment. BEFORE I HAD WRITTEN TO YOU ALL THAT HE WAS GOING TO HAVE A BREAK. NOW THEY SAY THERE'S NO TIME FOR THAT SO, HE IS STARTING FOLFOX WITH ERBITIX.

EARLIER ON HIS ONC HAD SAID THAT SECOND LINE THERAPY WAS NOT USUALLY AS EFFECTIVE AS THE FIRST TRY. I KNOW ALOT OF PEOPLE TRY DIFFERNT CHEMOS AFTER A REOCCURANCE OR AFTER A PROCEDURE. BUT HAS ANYONE STOPPED ONE FOR ANOTHER BECAUSE THE FIRST WASN'T WORKING AND HAD SUCCESS WITH THE NEW ONE??

ALSO, HAS ANYONE FELT HORRIBLY SICK ONE FOLFIRI AND THEN MUCH BETTER ON FOLFOX???

[jennb]

Naomi,

I haven't had to switch treatments but I was starting to have a reaction to Oxaliplatin, part of Folfox6. My onc said not to worry that if steroids and Benadryl didn't work that there were other drug options to try. She wasn't concerned about a different regiment working any better or any less. She was quite optimistic of options.

Good Luck!

[kimlon]

Naomi, My husband was dx almost 2 years ago stage IV with mets to lungs and liver. He started off with oxliplatin, avastin and leucovorin, that stopped working after 6-8 months. Then it was cpt11 and 5fu with home infusion. When that stopped working the doctor started him on vectibix and cpt11 which he is still on. Its been 2 years and he doing better now than he has on any of the other treatments. The cancer has been stable for months and the doctor is giving him longer breaks between treatments. Were so thankful and thrilled to say the least. Who knows how long this will last but were enjoying every minute of it.

Kim

[naomi]

Thanks jenn and kim for replying!! Kim, i'm so happy for you and your husband. I hope the improvment continues for him! Good luck it is encouraging to hear.

[CBLACK]

My husband had the opposite situation. He was stage 3 and started on Folfox. The oxaliplatin caused spine pains (nerves?). We figured this out from process of elimination. There haven't been others with the spine pain, so I wouldn't be concerned. His doc had never seen it before. He then switched to Folfiri for his second half of treatments. Very few problems with it. Anything was better than spinal pain. I think that everyone responds differently to each medicine. Many people do very well on Folfox. It is common to have neuropathy, but it is usually manageable. Good luck to him. I hope his new line of treatment goes well.