maintenance chemo..what treatment types do you use?

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NateA
Posts: 115
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2015 7:41 pm
Facebook Username: Nathan Drew Allen

maintenance chemo..what treatment types do you use?

Postby NateA » Thu Sep 10, 2015 10:49 am

I'm a ways from getting to a maintenance situation, still new to the game but you long term chemo brothers and sisters, what regimens do you follow? Breaks? Please give examples, I'm so curious..
7/15 dx CC stage 4 with lots of liver mets CEA 208
KRAS Mutant G12V, MSS.
9/23 from folfoxiri to folfox and Xeloda. CEA 25
11/11/15 all liver markers in the zone, CEA 4.0, moving to Avastin/xeloda for now..tumors shrinking
01/13/16 Avastin/xeloda CEA 3.5
03/11/16 clean PET CEA 4.4

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GrouseMan
Posts: 888
Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2013 12:30 pm
Location: SE Michigan USA

Re: maintenance chemo..what treatment types do you use?

Postby GrouseMan » Thu Sep 10, 2015 4:45 pm

My wife responded well to FolFox with Avastin as the initial treatment every other week. At the end of this the Oxy was removed and she did 5-FU, Leucovorin and Avastin every other week. No break in between the initial treatment and this maintenance treatment. She tolerated it very well. After about 3 months of this her oncologist move the schedule to once every three weeks. Still no breaks between. She has been on this schedule now for about 18 months now. Is Stable by CT scan run every three months (Will have another next week). The three week schedule works very well for her. She tolerates it very well. She will typically schedule a treatment early sometimes if the treatment schedule might interfere with a trip or something else she might want to do. She maintains that three week interval never letting it get further out there. Works well for her. I was a former anti cancer researcher. I am not a big believer in breaks as you let the pressure off the tumors and they bounce back, and might be harder to treat when that happens. Her oncologist thinks very similarly. Additionally she take 800 mg of Tagamet a day (400 mg in the morning and 400 mg in the evening). No one knows if this helps or not but it doesn't hurt. I wish I could talk her into adding a daily Aspirin as well.

We can't really say what might work for you however. Its up to your Oncologist to put together your treatment plan with your help. My wife's treatment and schedule might not work for you. Still its good to know what other people are experiencing.

Good luck

GrouseMan
DW 53 dx Jun 2013
CT mets Liver Spleen lung. IVb CEA~110
Jul 2013 Sig Resct
8/13 FolFox,Avastin 12Tx mild sfx, Ongoing 5-FU Avastin every 3 wks.
CEA: good marker
7/7/14 CT Can't see the spleen Mets.
8/16/15 CEA Up, CT new abdominal mets. Iri, 5-FU, Avastin every 2 wks.
1/16 Iri, Erbitux and likely Avastin (Trial) CEA going >.
1/17 CEA up again dropped from Trial, Mets growth 4-6 mm in abdomen
5/2/17 Failed second trial, Hospitalized 15 days 5/11. Home Hospice 5/26, at peace 6/4/2017

NateA
Posts: 115
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2015 7:41 pm
Facebook Username: Nathan Drew Allen

Re: maintenance chemo..what treatment types do you use?

Postby NateA » Thu Sep 10, 2015 5:03 pm

Great info, Grouseman, exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you!
7/15 dx CC stage 4 with lots of liver mets CEA 208
KRAS Mutant G12V, MSS.
9/23 from folfoxiri to folfox and Xeloda. CEA 25
11/11/15 all liver markers in the zone, CEA 4.0, moving to Avastin/xeloda for now..tumors shrinking
01/13/16 Avastin/xeloda CEA 3.5
03/11/16 clean PET CEA 4.4

Nik Colon

Re: maintenance chemo..what treatment types do you use?

Postby Nik Colon » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:25 am

My first onc wanted me to do 12 rounds of chemo, 6 b4 surgery then 6 after. Because I mentioned I really wanted to get to surgery I had it after 4, then he was going to do just 4 more after then maintenance xeloda after. I switched places and new onc decided to do the remaining 8 and said if I did that I would not need maintenance. My case differs from others as we all do, also since I'm NED now, but usually others need to stay on some form of chemo. This is just my experience and also oncs have different opinions. I'm happy with what I'm doing and hopefully won't get recurrence. I guess it depends on your personal situation and what your onc thinks is best. As always, you can get opinions from other oncs and decide from there when the time comes.

NateA
Posts: 115
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2015 7:41 pm
Facebook Username: Nathan Drew Allen

Re: maintenance chemo..what treatment types do you use?

Postby NateA » Fri Sep 11, 2015 8:06 am

Thx Nik! Apparently I'm not operable, but doc for some reason thinks she can get me to NED. I'll take a NED and chemo. Was just hoping it wouldn't be the same sitch as now where I am in the chemo chair for 8 hours every 2 weeks then take home the damn 5fu pump for 2 days.
7/15 dx CC stage 4 with lots of liver mets CEA 208
KRAS Mutant G12V, MSS.
9/23 from folfoxiri to folfox and Xeloda. CEA 25
11/11/15 all liver markers in the zone, CEA 4.0, moving to Avastin/xeloda for now..tumors shrinking
01/13/16 Avastin/xeloda CEA 3.5
03/11/16 clean PET CEA 4.4

sjring
Posts: 181
Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:16 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: maintenance chemo..what treatment types do you use?

Postby sjring » Fri Sep 11, 2015 11:22 am

For me, maintenance was Avastin and 5-FU. Initially on the every-other week schedule then to every third week, which is when the recurrence happened. Again it's different for everyone.
50 YO Husband & father of 2 teenagers.
DX 9/9/13 Stage 4 cc (at age 48)
16 Rounds FOLFOX + Avastin (Oct-13 to May-14)
Maintenance chemo - Avastin & 5-FU infusions (Jun-14 to Jul-15)
Jul-15: Mets to lymph nodes, resuming FOLFOX
Sep-15: MRI showed stability, back to maintenance chemo.


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