Immunotherapy Experience & Advice

[nmorgen]

My husband was given iodine contrast yesterday and has been really suffering today with horrible stomach cramps and diarrhea. Has anyone else experienced this?

[Jacques]

My husband was given iodine contrast yesterday and has been really suffering today with horrible stomach cramps and diarrhea. Has anyone else experienced this?

FYI:

https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=62966&p=496017&hilit=creatinine+clearance#p496017

Did your husband have kidney function tests done before the scan -- e.g., BUN, creatinine, and creatinine clearance? Maybe his body is not excreting iodine in a timely fashion. - Just a thought ...

[nmorgen]

He didn’t have any test before. He is still having cramps and diarrhea today.

As far as labs today his hemoglobin was the highest it has been so far 12.1, which might explain why he is feeling better. All of the liver and thyroid was normal. The bad was his neutrophil was high and the lymphocytes were low. They still haven’t posted his CEA, so we have no idea.

The dr had the preliminary scan report and the liver hadn’t changed enough to be statistically significant. They didn’t really mention the colon, which I’m not sure they can even see on ct scans other than thickening of the sigmoid. They are setting him up for ctdna testing. The plan is to continue with Opdivo alone for 4 treatments and to rescan. I’m hoping they will use mri for the next scan.

I’m still being hopeful that the treatment will work.

[CRguy]

question ? :
was it intravenous iodinated CT contrast OR oral iodinated CT contrast ?

addendum :
Yes, they should do kidney functions test assessment : creatinine / creatinine clearance with eGFR

suggestion : IF they are going to do an MRI he should have the kidney function tested,
as the MRI contrast is also potentially a risk factor for the kidneys due to gadolinium content.

Best wishes for you and hubby
CRguy

[Jacques]

question ? :
was it intravenous iodinated CT contrast OR oral iodinated CT contrast ?

addendum :
Yes, they should do kidney functions test assessment : creatinine / creatinine clearance with eGFR

suggestion : IF they are going to do an MRI he should have the kidney function tested,
as the MRI contrast is also potentially a risk factor for the kidneys due to gadolinium content.

Best wishes for you and hubby
CRguy

As usual, some very relevant comments/questions from CRguy.

Also, if your husband is seriously looking into an MRI, then there is a special kind of contrast-enabled MRI designed to detect details in liver mets:

... Also, please note that there is a special kind of MRI that does angiogram-like images showing blood flow patterns in the liver. Is this the kind of MRI you are considering? https://radiopaedia.org/articles/liver-protocol-mri

[nmorgen]

Thank you for the well wishes.

It was iohexol intravenous.

When they did the mri they used gadoteridol and it didn’t bother him. They also put a bunch of gel up his bum for the mri. We are just hoping they do the same type of mri that they did in Nov as it showed the tumors in more depth and they were able to get better measurements.

[Jacques]

Thank you for the well wishes.

It was iohexol intravenous...

In my hospital, they use ionitridol for IV contrast. Here is the side effects profile for that particular contrast agent:

https://www.drugs.com/uk/xenetix-350-350-mgi-ml-solution-for-injection-leaflet.html

Here is the side effects profile for the iohexol IV agent that your husband had:

https://www.drugs.com/sfx/iohexol-side-effects.html

[Jacques]

Best wishes for good outcomes on the upcoming scans.

Take care ...