6 rounds of FOLFOX??

[mrmle]

My husband was diagnosed in September-his tumor was in the rectosigmoid junction...T1N1M0. He received 5.5 weeks of Xeloda/Radiation. He had surgery in January-17 lymph nodes were removed. 1 was cancerous (which we already knew about). He doctors at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. They suggested just 6 rounds of FOLFOX which would be just 3 months of chemo. As I browse this board, I'm having a hard time finding anyone else who did only 3 months of chemo. It seems most are doing 6 months or 12 rounds. Any thoughts on this?

[justin case]

I did 3 rounds of Folfox, then Folfox and radiation. After surgery, I did 12 rounds of 5FU, 1 bolus per week, for 6weeks, 2 weeks off, then 6 more weeks, basically 3 months. The original protocol was developed at Roswell Park, and augmented by Mayo. I'm doing very well, 14 months later. Good luck,
Michael

[LabLover]

I was scheduled for six rounds of xelox. I only completed 4 before the oxi reaction become unmanageable. So now I'm only xeloda only for the last 2 cycles. I was assumed stage 3 rectal cancer. Completed chemo/ radiation prior to surgery. Surgery no sign of cancer in tumor or any lymph nodes (26 tested). So the 6 cycles of xelox was just mop up.

I'm at Duke and I trust their protocol.

[gtownguy]

I also did 6 weeks of Xeloda and radiation before surgery. 19 lymph nodes were removed and all came back negative. After surgery I was slated to undergo 6 months/12 rounds of FOLFOX but my oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic decided to stop after 8 rounds. His reason - according to all the research he had read, there didn't seem to be any added benefit to 12 treatments versus 8.

[ziggymonster]

I was also scheduled for 12 folfox......oxi reduced by 20% after tx#3, stopped totally after 8 rounds, went on to do 10fu total.....my onco was ok with that.

[mrmle]

So I'm feeling like maybe 6 rounds isn't aggressive enough???

[kellywin]

For us rectal cancer people, you get "credit" for the chemo you do during radiation, so with the 5.5 weeks of that, then it's typically 6 rounds of Xelox after surgery. Folfox may be a little different as the Xelox is once every 3 weeks.

[mrmle]

Thank you kellywin...that makes sense. Just curious, did they recommend Xelox for you over Folfox? Our oncologist here told us we could pick between the two, but Mayo just said Folfox...so we were going to do that...but hate the idea of the pump:)

[nkoske]

I was the same at Kelly. I was given credit for my Chemo/Rad. I would also ask why not Xeloda (Capecitabine) w/ Oxaliplatin? This is called Xelox or CapOx. I think it's shown to be easier with the number side effects. I found it pretty easy to deal with. One 6 hour-ish infusion once every three weeks and popped pills for 14 days, then off for 7 days then back at it again. I didn't have to do a port, and I wasn't attached to a pump for 48 hours. I found it convenient.

Did they give any reason against Xeloda + Oxaliplatin?

As for 3 mo v. 6 mo. There are currently studies underway to see if 3 mo. of chemo is as good at 6 mo. I know they were doing one at Stanford. In the 'old days' chemo use to be 12 mo. it was just the place they started. Then they proved that 6 mo. was as effective as 12 mo. so now that's the standard. Now there's studies to find out if 3 mo. is an acceptable amount. With all of that said these studies are short of young people. For every 35 year old in a study there's 4-5 people (or more) over 50. So I'd be wary of making to strong a conclusion from the results of a 1000 person study but only a handful of people under 40.

[kellywin]

Thank you kellywin...that makes sense. Just curious, did they recommend Xelox for you over Folfox? Our oncologist here told us we could pick between the two, but Mayo just said Folfox...so we were going to do that...but hate the idea of the pump:)

My Oncologist pretty much assumed Xelox, although he said I could opt for the pump, but why. He felt that the Xelox was just as effective, if not more. Ditto what Nick said above. Easier, no pump and you're on the 3 week cycle, more time in between, more days feeling good before you get poisoned again. For just 6 infusions you don't have to get a port. If I was going to do more than 6, I might have considered a port, I only ended up doing 5, it's not a joyride in the vein, but it's doable.

[nkoske]

For just 6 infusions you don't have to get a port. If I was going to do more than 6, I might have considered a port, I only ended up doing 5, it's not a joyride in the vein, but it's doable.

Ditto.

**Insiders trick** Heat packs on you IV site (make sure they stay warm) for the duration of the Oxali infusion = more betterer .

[kellywin]

For just 6 infusions you don't have to get a port. If I was going to do more than 6, I might have considered a port, I only ended up doing 5, it's not a joyride in the vein, but it's doable.

Ditto.

**Insiders trick** Heat packs on you IV site (make sure they stay warm) for the duration of the Oxali infusion = more betterer .

Double ditto.

I got some of those hand warmer packets (the kind you open up to air and they heat up to put in gloves while skiing or out in the cold). Those worked great. For the first couple, they gave me warm blankets and that worked good too. But the hand warmers were pretty easy and worked great as well.