Avastin vs zaltrap

[Missy9579]

Hello everyone..

I'll take a minute to introduce myself, my name is Missy and my husband is 46 and was diagnosed in February with stage 4 colon cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes and liver. He has 5 liver Mets currently. He had surgery to remove a 10 cm mess and part of his colon in March. He has been doing chemo since April 4th, and chose to do fulfoxiri, and avastin was also included.

He just had a scan on Friday to see how his nets were reacting, and sadly instead of the shrinkage we hoped for, the nets have grown. This was devastating.

The plan now is to swap out avastin with zaltrap. And do another scan in 6 weeks.

Has anyone ever had results with zaltrap after not having good results with avastin?

[Lee]

Hi MIssy, sorry for the reason you are here.

If you have not already done so, PLEASE get a 2nd opinion at a major cancer treatment center. Dr. Kemeny with Sloan Kettering Memorial in NYC has had great success with liver mets.

Check around this forum, look for "DK37" and "Maia" posting. They are our "resident researchers " and are up on the latest immunotherapy. I truly believe this is the future to beating cancer. Especially when traditional chemo has failed.

Also look for Sleen thread. She was given months to live and is NED (No Evidence Detected) today. Her success has been featured on major news outlet and TV.

So do not give up the hope. You have come to the right place for info and support.

All the best,

Lee

[Achilles Torn]

Hi Missy,

Sorry - I don't have experience with Zaltrap (ziv-aflibercept). From my limited knowledge, it doesn't have as wide use in second line treatment as the EGFR inhibitors Vectibix (panitumumab) and Erbitux (Cetuximab) for which many have good results. (EGFR inhibitors seem to have limited clinical benefit for certain KRAS/NRAS mutations so perhaps that is why they aren't being used)

If you haven't already you should ask about genetic testing of your husband's tumor as it can be important to making treatment decisions. In particular, if he is MSI (around 15% of Colorectal Cancer) it would indicate immunotherapy may be better than standard chemotherapy and might explain his lack of response to Chemo.

If you use the search function on the board you can probably find previous posts where Zaltrap was discussed but I would echo Lee and get a second opinion and don't be afraid to ask his oncologist as many questions as you need.

AT

[Missy9579]

Thank you guys!

We got 3 opinions before chosing our oncologist, including seeing Dr. Kemeny at MSK..my husband was not an ideal candidate for the pump as he needed a more systemic treatment first and his cancer has some sarcoma factors and other various reasons.

I'll ask the questions about the kind of tumor...we have some initial genetic testing done to check for other cancer markers...

I was told that immunotherapy wouldn't work for him due to the DNA make up of his tumor, if that is what you mean.

The oncologist on Wednesday is referring us to a clinical trial doctor at Smilow Cancer center in Yale and also an interventional radiology.