survey: what chemo for first reoccurence

nancy591

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering what chemo meds are generally used for your first reoccurence. Also wondering how long you were in remission the first time and if a remission was successful the second time. My doctor is suggesting Doxil for my reoccurence. I've been out of chemo 8 months. I had a clean ct scan and normal ca125 but a PET scan showed a very small area on my colon that was confirmed to be cancer. Doctor states I will be in Doxcil indefinately. I was floored! I'm just looking to see if this is common.

fuzzytrouble

Doxcil
Hi Nancy, I am not ovarian but I read this site always, since we girls seem to get the same chemo. I have Uterine cancer that had mets to the lungs. The nodules the first time were small and they put me on carbo/taxol for six rounds. I finished around April then had good ct scans (never had PET scans) for a few rounds then they found that the nodules starting growing again so now I am on doxil. I have had 2 treatments so far, next one is on the 23rd of DEc. I have to have at least 4 treatments before they can tell if Doxil is doing the job well enough. I am surprised that the doctor said indefinitely before you even had any treatments, Doxil seems to be the going chemo for both ovarian and uterine cancer, and I have heard it's pretty good stuff. So far my side effects are little, like skin problems, nothing bad yet. I don't know if this helps you or not I am sure you will get lots more comments on the matter.

Good luck with your treatments, sorry about the cancer showing up again.

Sharon

kayandok

first recurrence
Hi Nancy, I had the same 8 month remission (NED) after 8 rounds of carbo/taxol following my debulk surgery. When I recurred, I did have a second debulk (although that is not common) and did cisplatin/gemzar for 6 cycles. My CA125 went to 18 so I could take a 3 month break. I started doxil in September. Side-effects are managable so far and CA is coming down.
Hope that helps.
Wishing you the best,
Kathleen:)

BonnieR

second line depends on your docs results
Hi Nancy, First off I am shocked to read your Dr say you well be on chemo indefinately, to me they don't really know who is going to have a remission or not.. just an educated guess. And the petscans can light up for other reasons... anyway with all that said my second line of chemo was Topotecan but some docs try the same first line when you have had a 8 month remission from first line.. that is awesome results. I did get Doxil but can't remember off hand which number that was for me, but did get good results and was actually one of the few chemos that allowed me to take break from the chemo regimen. I pray the dr was just venting on the side of caution and this wasnt cancer showing up or if it was the Doxil knocks it right out. Blessing ♥ Hugs ♥ Prayers Bonnie

PS As I reread my post hope I don't sound angry was trying to be supportive and leave a window of Hope.. :-) Too lazy to retype though.

nancy591

fuzzytrouble said:

Doxcil
Hi Nancy, I am not ovarian but I read this site always, since we girls seem to get the same chemo. I have Uterine cancer that had mets to the lungs. The nodules the first time were small and they put me on carbo/taxol for six rounds. I finished around April then had good ct scans (never had PET scans) for a few rounds then they found that the nodules starting growing again so now I am on doxil. I have had 2 treatments so far, next one is on the 23rd of DEc. I have to have at least 4 treatments before they can tell if Doxil is doing the job well enough. I am surprised that the doctor said indefinitely before you even had any treatments, Doxil seems to be the going chemo for both ovarian and uterine cancer, and I have heard it's pretty good stuff. So far my side effects are little, like skin problems, nothing bad yet. I don't know if this helps you or not I am sure you will get lots more comments on the matter.

Good luck with your treatments, sorry about the cancer showing up again.

Sharon

thanks
Thanks for your response. I did hear about the 4 treatments needed before they can tell if it works. How frequent are your intervals?

nancy591

kayandok said:

first recurrence
Hi Nancy, I had the same 8 month remission (NED) after 8 rounds of carbo/taxol following my debulk surgery. When I recurred, I did have a second debulk (although that is not common) and did cisplatin/gemzar for 6 cycles. My CA125 went to 18 so I could take a 3 month break. I started doxil in September. Side-effects are managable so far and CA is coming down.
Hope that helps.
Wishing you the best,
Kathleen:)

your reoccurence
Was your reoccurence detected by a ct scan? My reoccurenc was undecetable on the CT but an unmeasurable area showed up on the PET. A colonoscopy confirmed a 13mm area positive for metastatic ovarian. The scary part is if it wasn't for the PET I would have been given the all clear! My surgeon says another surgery isn't recommended at this time because I'm not having symptoms. You started Doxil because a reoccurence was detected after being off for 3 months? Are your reoccurence on the colon? Thanks for all the information!

nancy591

BonnieR said:

second line depends on your docs results
Hi Nancy, First off I am shocked to read your Dr say you well be on chemo indefinately, to me they don't really know who is going to have a remission or not.. just an educated guess. And the petscans can light up for other reasons... anyway with all that said my second line of chemo was Topotecan but some docs try the same first line when you have had a 8 month remission from first line.. that is awesome results. I did get Doxil but can't remember off hand which number that was for me, but did get good results and was actually one of the few chemos that allowed me to take break from the chemo regimen. I pray the dr was just venting on the side of caution and this wasnt cancer showing up or if it was the Doxil knocks it right out. Blessing ♥ Hugs ♥ Prayers Bonnie

PS As I reread my post hope I don't sound angry was trying to be supportive and leave a window of Hope.. :-) Too lazy to retype though.

thanks
Thanks for your response. I was shocked too. She said I would be on it until it stopped working. The petscan results were confirmed by a colonoscopy. A 13MM area was seen and biopsied. Postive for recurrent ovarain. I am waiting for a call from one of the lead oncologists to discuss my treatment options. Since the reoccurence is so small and I did get 8 months of no detectable disease maybe the platin meds are a viable option for me. As I said in my other posts...the scary part is I would have been given the all clear if I hadn't had the Pet SCAN. I still have no detectable disease based on the CT and ca125. SCARY!!! I know you and your sister have been several years battling this disease. Please remind me again how long its been and how many reoccurences you've had. It gives me hope that a reoccurence doesn't mean I'm on a downhill slide. I feel fine!!

saundra

nancy591 said:

thanks
Thanks for your response. I was shocked too. She said I would be on it until it stopped working. The petscan results were confirmed by a colonoscopy. A 13MM area was seen and biopsied. Postive for recurrent ovarain. I am waiting for a call from one of the lead oncologists to discuss my treatment options. Since the reoccurence is so small and I did get 8 months of no detectable disease maybe the platin meds are a viable option for me. As I said in my other posts...the scary part is I would have been given the all clear if I hadn't had the Pet SCAN. I still have no detectable disease based on the CT and ca125. SCARY!!! I know you and your sister have been several years battling this disease. Please remind me again how long its been and how many reoccurences you've had. It gives me hope that a reoccurence doesn't mean I'm on a downhill slide. I feel fine!!

Me too!!
My oncologist said pretty much the same thing about having some sort of chemo from now on. I actually take that with a grain of salt as only God knows what is in store for me. I have never had a PET but the CT finally showed and a needle biopsy was done to confirm the tumor on the sigmoid part of the colon.
I started with Doxil/carbo and it was a hard recovery...felt bad for 10 days. They dropped the doxil for the next four doses and my CA 125 has dropped from 434 to 53. Was up to 59 last month. The carbo was given every 4 weeks and is easy to take. I was given this as it had been over 18 months since I had had carbo. Now I am having to be premedicated due to allergic reactions (rash) and will probably be changed soon. Scheduled for Dec. 31st but I may not get carbo....don't know yet. If my CA125 goes up again the oncologist says we will switch to something else and added we still had lots of new things to try. The goal is to treat me as much as my body can take and still have some quality of life. Saundra

kayandok

nancy591 said:

your reoccurence
Was your reoccurence detected by a ct scan? My reoccurenc was undecetable on the CT but an unmeasurable area showed up on the PET. A colonoscopy confirmed a 13mm area positive for metastatic ovarian. The scary part is if it wasn't for the PET I would have been given the all clear! My surgeon says another surgery isn't recommended at this time because I'm not having symptoms. You started Doxil because a reoccurence was detected after being off for 3 months? Are your reoccurence on the colon? Thanks for all the information!

1st Recurrence
was confirmed after the 8 month NED by PET/CT and CA rising. I had a few spots that were mm but several cm size, including several in the spleen. After a second de-bulk, including splenectomy (they had to leave mm behind on the vena cava and pancreas) , I started Cisplatin/Gemzar and took it for 6 cycles. CA125 came down to 18, so I could take a 3 month break.

I started Doxil after my break, not for a recurrence. Before starting Doxil, I did have a PET/CT again to confirm that the spots were still there, and by then the CA had gone up to 75.

Your 13mm (I think that is 1.3cm correct?) would show up on a CT, if they use a tighter grid. There are all sorts of grids out there. My PET is always combined with a CT for a more accurate read.

Kathleen:)