Biologic therapy vs, chemotherapy

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cathy4889
cathy4889 Member Posts: 10
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
My husband has Tonsil Cancer that has travelled to two lymph nodes (no where else so far). The oncologist wants him to take erbitux along with his radiation instead of the chemotherapy. Can anyone give me their experiences and / or thoughts?

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  • Fire34
    Fire34 Member Posts: 365
    #2
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    Erbitux here
    Cathy
    Erbitux is a chemotherapy drug. I was on it during a clinical trial at the U of Chicago. I have not done much rsearch on it though, but I believe it targets the cancer better. The only side effect is the acne, your husband will look like a teenager again -:) If your husband gets the acne as bad as I did he will have to stop the urge to scratch as we are prone to infections. That was the hardest part for me during treatment & recovery. they say the worse the rash the better the drug is working.
    Wishes & Prayers on whichever decision you choose.
    Dave
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #3
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    Fire34 said:

    Erbitux here
    Cathy
    Erbitux is a chemotherapy drug. I was on it during a clinical trial at the U of Chicago. I have not done much rsearch on it though, but I believe it targets the cancer better. The only side effect is the acne, your husband will look like a teenager again -:) If your husband gets the acne as bad as I did he will have to stop the urge to scratch as we are prone to infections. That was the hardest part for me during treatment & recovery. they say the worse the rash the better the drug is working.
    Wishes & Prayers on whichever decision you choose.
    Dave

    Hi Cathy

    Welcome to the family here on CSN. like Dave said Erbitux is just another form of Chemo.


    Wishing your husband well on his treatment
    Hondo
  • jim and i
    jim and i Member Posts: 1,788 Member
    #4
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    hate to contradict
    Jim's chemo doctor emphasized that Erbatux is not a chemo drug. He said chemo drugs are like dirty bombs, they cover every thing. Erbatux is like a guided missle, it targets the cancer. Jim was not able to complete chemo due to it effecting his kidneys so they gave him the Erbatux to finish him up. He has the rash on top of his head of all places. Our doctor always gave us a sheet explaining the drug, which will scare you to death. He said the listed side effects will scare you but the rash was the most common and the others were rare.

    I would ask the doctor for his reasoning behind the treatment plan, you have a right to know. Being agressive with questions is a must during treatment. If he won't answer them, get another doctor. Knowledge helps with the anxiety and keeps you in control of your health and treatment.

    Praying for you, Debbie
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #5
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    Erbitux
    Well....actually it's hard to say if it is or isn't a chemotherapy drug by definiton. In Googling it, you'll find mostly that it is given in conjunction with chemotherapy.

    But there are a few sites that say it is a form of chemotheraphy;

    Erbitux

    Erbitux II

    In the big picture it doesn't really matter..the main thing is results of the drugs and treatment being prescribed by your MD.

    Welcome to the forum Cathy....a lot of great people here, many willing to share their expereinces with you.

    As for me, I had STGIII SCC Tonsil Cancer that also traveled to one lyphmnode. The primary being the tonsils the secondary being the lyphmnode...this is common in my type of cancer. Usually staying above the neckline as well....not always, but usually.

    My treatment consisted of;

    Tonsils coming out
    Nine weeks (three week cycles) of chemo
    - Cisplatin, Taxotere, and 5FU
    Seven weeks of Concurrent chemo/rads -
    - Carboplatin
    35 daily Amifostine Injections in the stomach
    35 daily sessions of radiation

    That was from January 2009 - Jun2009...

    It was rough but doable, all clean since.

    Thoughts & Prayers,
    John
  • robinleigh
    robinleigh Member Posts: 297
    #6
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    our experience
    My husband is on a chemotherapy protocol that does include erbitux. It seems to be the most tolerable of the three chemotherapy drugs he is on. He has had the side effect called the "erbitux rash" which looks a bit like acne but just as much like rosacea to us. It is not always present...It comes and goes. They treat it with medications just as they would a teenage acne. In the scheme of things, it is certainly not the worst side effect to deal with!
  • ratface
    ratface Member Posts: 1,337 Member
    #7
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    robinleigh said:

    our experience
    My husband is on a chemotherapy protocol that does include erbitux. It seems to be the most tolerable of the three chemotherapy drugs he is on. He has had the side effect called the "erbitux rash" which looks a bit like acne but just as much like rosacea to us. It is not always present...It comes and goes. They treat it with medications just as they would a teenage acne. In the scheme of things, it is certainly not the worst side effect to deal with!

    It's chemotherapy
    It's targeted death to cancer cells only vs. killing cancer and healthy cells. Erbitux just kills the cancer cells. How is that not chemo therapy or medication to kill cancer. It seems to me one doctor is making it seem not as good as platinum based drugs which is misleading. Nothing could be further from the truth, I did lots of reading on it when I was diagnosed. I thought it was such a good drug that I asked my oncologist to put me on it. She insisted on cisplatin which is the current gold standard. I personally believe erbitux is catching on as the new gold standard but just hasn't yet. It really is just a choice between tolerable side effects and gold currency vs. gold bullion. Both chemo's do the job.
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #8
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    ratface said:

    It's chemotherapy
    It's targeted death to cancer cells only vs. killing cancer and healthy cells. Erbitux just kills the cancer cells. How is that not chemo therapy or medication to kill cancer. It seems to me one doctor is making it seem not as good as platinum based drugs which is misleading. Nothing could be further from the truth, I did lots of reading on it when I was diagnosed. I thought it was such a good drug that I asked my oncologist to put me on it. She insisted on cisplatin which is the current gold standard. I personally believe erbitux is catching on as the new gold standard but just hasn't yet. It really is just a choice between tolerable side effects and gold currency vs. gold bullion. Both chemo's do the job.

    Platinum Based & Bark
    LOL, don't forget my buddy Taxotere which is actually a semi-synthetic derivative of the Pacific Yew Tree Bark (alkaloid based)...
  • Pam M
    Pam M Member Posts: 2,196
    #9
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    Skiffin16 said:

    Platinum Based & Bark
    LOL, don't forget my buddy Taxotere which is actually a semi-synthetic derivative of the Pacific Yew Tree Bark (alkaloid based)...

    Yay, Taxotere!
    Here's to (temporarily) shiny heads!
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #10
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    Pam M said:

    Yay, Taxotere!
    Here's to (temporarily) shiny heads!

    No Hair Mo Hair.....
    LOL, yes I was a member of the No Hair Club for Men.....

    Kind of funny at the time, always just figured you loss the hair on your head...didn't realize you lost ummmmm alll body hair. It was kind of like going through puberty again when it started coming back in again...all blonde, soft straight and fine...LOL.

    I also lost my toe nails and my finger nails were very brittle and would break off at the tips.

    All of that only lasted between the first and second rounds of Cisplatin, Taxotere and 5FU...

    Below are two photos from my chemo No Hair days, my shaved head and Marine Corps buzz cut photo, and my two nurses Kali and Jasmine taking care of their daddy...

    G-Man...

    Three Amigos

    Now I have Mo Hair again....

    JG
  • Greg53
    Greg53 Member Posts: 849
    #11
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    Skiffin16 said:

    No Hair Mo Hair.....
    LOL, yes I was a member of the No Hair Club for Men.....

    Kind of funny at the time, always just figured you loss the hair on your head...didn't realize you lost ummmmm alll body hair. It was kind of like going through puberty again when it started coming back in again...all blonde, soft straight and fine...LOL.

    I also lost my toe nails and my finger nails were very brittle and would break off at the tips.

    All of that only lasted between the first and second rounds of Cisplatin, Taxotere and 5FU...

    Below are two photos from my chemo No Hair days, my shaved head and Marine Corps buzz cut photo, and my two nurses Kali and Jasmine taking care of their daddy...

    G-Man...

    Three Amigos

    Now I have Mo Hair again....

    JG

    Both
    Hi Cathy,

    Sorry you and your husband find yourself here, but welcome to our group. Since I had both chemo and Erbitux thought I'd let you know about me. I was stage 4, tonsil cancer with bilateral mets to several lymph nodes. My tx was 35 rounds of radiation along with concurrent treatments of Cisplatin. Cisplatin was given at weeks 1, 4 and 7 during rads. After 2 rounds of Cisplatin I had significant hearing loss and my Onc switched me to Erbitux for the last round. I actually had the Erbitux once a week for the last 3 weeks. So I was one of a few here that did both of these. My Onc told me the Cisplatin was the "big gun" and that he used that for advanced cases. The same Onc treated other patients with Erbitux exclusively. One friend of mine was Stage 3 BOT and was given only Erbitux, while another buddy had early Stage 3 tonsil and only had rads and surgery, also by the same team of docs. Guess my point here is don't be afraid ask why they are recommending one over the other. I was confident with my teamof docs and that I think is very important. BTW my Onc said Erbitux is not chemo, but hey it worked for me, whatever you call it - 16 months post tx and doing well. Also I had minimal effects from the Erbitux, a little acne is all, while the cisplatin knocked me on my keister.

    Sending positive thoughts to you and your hubby!

    Greg

    (Skif - TMI on the hair loss buddy - I'm gonna have nightmares about that now - LOL)
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #12
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    Greg53 said:

    Both
    Hi Cathy,

    Sorry you and your husband find yourself here, but welcome to our group. Since I had both chemo and Erbitux thought I'd let you know about me. I was stage 4, tonsil cancer with bilateral mets to several lymph nodes. My tx was 35 rounds of radiation along with concurrent treatments of Cisplatin. Cisplatin was given at weeks 1, 4 and 7 during rads. After 2 rounds of Cisplatin I had significant hearing loss and my Onc switched me to Erbitux for the last round. I actually had the Erbitux once a week for the last 3 weeks. So I was one of a few here that did both of these. My Onc told me the Cisplatin was the "big gun" and that he used that for advanced cases. The same Onc treated other patients with Erbitux exclusively. One friend of mine was Stage 3 BOT and was given only Erbitux, while another buddy had early Stage 3 tonsil and only had rads and surgery, also by the same team of docs. Guess my point here is don't be afraid ask why they are recommending one over the other. I was confident with my teamof docs and that I think is very important. BTW my Onc said Erbitux is not chemo, but hey it worked for me, whatever you call it - 16 months post tx and doing well. Also I had minimal effects from the Erbitux, a little acne is all, while the cisplatin knocked me on my keister.

    Sending positive thoughts to you and your hubby!

    Greg

    (Skif - TMI on the hair loss buddy - I'm gonna have nightmares about that now - LOL)

    LOL.....Goonie
    I think I rather look like the guy locked in the cage in the movie "The Goonies".....that's what lack of fishing will do for you...LOL.


    I Feel Pretty

    JG
  • Greg53
    Greg53 Member Posts: 849
    #13
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    Skiffin16 said:

    LOL.....Goonie
    I think I rather look like the guy locked in the cage in the movie "The Goonies".....that's what lack of fishing will do for you...LOL.


    I Feel Pretty

    JG

    Nightmare
    Lack of Fishing - now that's a nightmare!!

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