iressa nonresponse

ecsninfo

The oncologist recommends trying iressa after two rounds of chemo for non-small cell stage IV. I can find a few success stories by real-sounding people, but the statistics look poor (10-15% are helped). Does anyone here know of people that tried Iressa after chemo without any good effect? What happens next?

michaelcie

hi, I am Mike, I have small cell lung cancer but am in remission for two years, I saw your post and on Cancerpage.com, the june 5 , publication under "trials and research" there is an article about a new drug (Tarceva) that shows benefits for advanced lung cancer. Sorry, I didn't exactly answer your question but any information in dealing with this damn disease helps. Praying for you and with you in this battle. Mike

ceezhar

I have been on Iressa for 17 months. I had lung cancer in 4 lung lobes, all chest lymphs and bronchial tube. I was given only 6 mo. to live on July 3, 2002. After six massive chemo treatments of taxol & carboplatin, I had 70 radiation treatments. In the mean time, in March 2003, I started on Iressa while it was still in the final clinical trial stage--it was approved by the FDA in May of 2003. I am on Iressa as a maintenance program. The tumors have not returned and I remain cancer free today, August 21, 2004--also, by God's grace!
~~ceezhar
See my story at Ceezhar's Corner on the Personal Web Pages

Mvail

Hello! My mom was diagnosed with non small lung cancer stage IV on Oct 11, 04. She took 7 doses of chemo and 21 doses of radiation. She then started taking Iressa for 1 month and developed ARDS which ended up taking her life on Jan 25,05. The ICU doctor informed us at that time that it was Iressa that gave her the ARDS and what eventually took her life. So I would not suggest for anyone to take this. My mom was only 53 years old.