not great news and a question

oneagleswings

my husband's latest scan shows slight growth in liver after being on 5FU/irinotecan and avastin for the past 6 months with mets to liver and lung- he is therefore no longer eligible for the trial and onc is switching him to xeloda and oxaliplatin. My question is this- have any of you been on one course of treatment with avastin and then switched over to another type of chemo and continued on with the avastin???
Thanks so much.
Bev

dash4

My husband had the same chemo to start with(plus surgery) and his pain returned a few weeks after finishing and it took 3 months to show up on the scans that the reoccurence was in abdomen and 2 nodes in chest.....been on erbitux and irinotecan since 10/05--all remained stable since and on last scan there is possiblility of marginal decrease....if you want more details-let me know-you can email me anytime...
Dash

Moesimo

I have no answers, but will keep you and hubby in my prayers.

Maureen

goldfinch

Bev,
I was on the folfiri (5FU/irinotecan/leucovorin) with avastin and switched to folfox (5FU/oxaliplatin/leucovorin) with avastin when cat scans showed it was only maintaining, ie no significant decrease in size of lung tumors.
This combo was working well. Lung lesions were smaller, but I had to come off of it for a while because of elevated liver studies. I've resumed it at a lower dose and will be getting a cat scan next week to see how things are looking.
Haven't had any trouble with the avastin yet. My BP is a little higher than usual, so they are keeping an eye on that. If it goes any higher and stays there i may have to start BP med.
Mary

carmen07

My husband was on Oxi/Leoc/5fu before liver resection and Oxi/Leoc/5fu/Avastin for after. He stopped the Oxi after four treatments after liver surgery due to neuropathy symptoms and continued with the Leoc/5fu/Avastin. The Oxi combo worked in shrinking his tumors before his liver surgery. He had two lessions. Couldn't be seen before surgery on scans.You can search the internet for chemo treatments used for stage IV. I don't remember the URL but I found great information.

sandyjg

My husband was diagnosed Stage IV colon with liver mets July 05, had emergency surgery to remove tumor, temporary colostomy, then a round of 5FU, oxiplatin, and the others that go with it. We had approximately 18% shrinkage with the first round. He had a reversal done and was off chemo for almost 3 months, then back on again. The liver mets got slightly larger during these 3 months Started same chemo up again and had no more shrinkage, but no new growth. Oncologist decided to take him off chemo because it isn't working, he is now on maintence avastin. He gets this every 3 weeks, double his previous doseage. He has his first cat scan after avastin only tomorrow. I am praying hard. He is an amazing man, great attitude, he hasn't slowed down at all. He has continued to play golf and travel. I have a hard time keeping up with him. I am waiting for pananumumab to be approved.