Avistan?

sherrylee

Hi!

I was recently diagnosed with recurrent colon cancer Stage 4. I have already have an ileostomy from my previous cancer diagnosis and chemo. Now it returned in my ovaries and I had a complete hysterectomy. The are talking of treating me with Avistan. Has anyone heard of it and/or had it for treatment. Just looking for more "personal" information.

thanks,
Sherry

Erinb

Hi Sherry,
My husband
Hi Sherry,
My husband responded very well with Avastin with Folfox. Folfox didn't seem to be doing the job, but when avastin was added there was a decrease in tumor size. The best news was after surgery his pathology report came back and he had a complete response. The cancer tumors were dead. Not sure what did it, but he had little side effects from the Avastin. He had occasional light nose bleeds and tiny lines in his fingernails.
Good luck with your treatments.
Erin

AnneCan

Sherylee,
Welocme to this
Sherylee,

Welocme to this forum! I an on folfiri + avastin, + it has worked very well for me. I have been on it since Sept /09 + I had 2 colorectal tumours "non-detectable" following 4 treatments (+ previous radiation + folfox). My last scan (May) showed only 1 of my 4 original liver tumour mets + it is 1/2 of its original size. I have not had many side effects from avastin - the odd bloody nose is about all. I have had hair loss (from the irinotecan part of folfiri) as well as fatigue, but overall this regimen has been really successful for me. Good luck!

geotina

Sherry
Welcome to the forum. My hubby is currently on maintenance chemo (he is Stage IV colon) of 5FU, Leucovorin weekly adding Avastin every other week. He responded very well to the six months of Folfox. So, he has had Avastin now for over a year and has no big problems with it. Like someone else mentioned, he has problems with his fingernails cracking and in the winter a runny nose with blood but I'm not sure that is only from the Avastin, think it is a combo of everything. Now that the weather is warmer and a little more humid than in the winter the nose thing is gone.

Avastin worked very, very well for George. Most of his liver and lung mets have disappeared and the large ones are significantly smaller and I credit most of that to how Avastin works, cutting off the blood supply to the mets, at least that is my underestanding, very simplified, of how Avastin works. Most people encounter no problems with Avastin. Personally, my opinion, Avastin is what contributed to George now being stable with no disease progression, in fact the opposite happened, and his Stage IV was quite advanced

I'm assuming you will be getting chemo drugs with the Avasin. Do you know what they are talking about giving you?

Take care - Tina

PhillieG

Hi Sherry
I took Avastin over 6 years ago when it was first approved and had great success with it. It was combined with FOLFOX. I did the protocol for 5 months and during that time the tumors in my liver were reduced enough so that I became operable.
I didn't have any problems with it either.
-phil

dmdwins

PhillieG said:

Hi Sherry
I took Avastin over 6 years ago when it was first approved and had great success with it. It was combined with FOLFOX. I did the protocol for 5 months and during that time the tumors in my liver were reduced enough so that I became operable.
I didn't have any problems with it either.
-phil

Avastin and mets to the ovaries
Hi Sherry

Welcome to the boards but of course sorry that you needed to be here. I also had mets to my ovaries and had Avastin in combo with Folfox as my chemo. I just posted a lond note about my diagnosis on the post KRISTA if you want to see my story. I am happy to answer any questions you might have.

Smiles,
Dawn

tastykake

starting folfori next week with avastin
I have had 5 treatments of folfox but the doctors decided to change my treatment to switch from oxilaplatin to avastin & campostar. They were considering surgery so I didn't have any treatment since March. There is a small "something" on my liver that nobody seems to be able to specifically identify so now I will start chemo again to see if it changes in 3 months. I am extremely nervous about the new drugs. I am very happy to read that those who used it didn't seem to have too much trouble. I guess only way to know is just wait till I have a chemo & see. The doctor did say I will probably lose my hair! I will let you know how the folfori & I get along.

Buckwirth

Avastin
Stage 4. After four treatments of Folfox w/Avastin, my tumor and lymph nodes were 71% smaller. A little pain in the finger tips, some of the usual problems with Folfox, but nothing I wouldn't trade for these kind of results.

AnneCan

Buckwirth said:

Avastin
Stage 4. After four treatments of Folfox w/Avastin, my tumor and lymph nodes were 71% smaller. A little pain in the finger tips, some of the usual problems with Folfox, but nothing I wouldn't trade for these kind of results.

Welcome Buckwirth,
It sounds
Welcome Buckwirth,

It sounds like your treatment is working well!

hoya1973

AnneCan said:

Welcome Buckwirth,
It sounds
Welcome Buckwirth,

It sounds like your treatment is working well!

I'm With Buckwirth
I also have just completed 4 treatments with Avastin, 5FU, Eloxatin and Leucovorin for stage IV. The results have been exceptional as the recent PET scan had more than a 50% reduction with my primary tumor, dramatic reduction with 2 additional masses and no sign of nodules that were previously spread throughout my peritoneal lining! I have had the usual side effects but they are minor compared to the positive results received to date.

AnneCan

hoya1973 said:

I'm With Buckwirth
I also have just completed 4 treatments with Avastin, 5FU, Eloxatin and Leucovorin for stage IV. The results have been exceptional as the recent PET scan had more than a 50% reduction with my primary tumor, dramatic reduction with 2 additional masses and no sign of nodules that were previously spread throughout my peritoneal lining! I have had the usual side effects but they are minor compared to the positive results received to date.

Congratulations hoya1973! I
Congratulations hoya1973! I am glad you have had such a positive response!

geotina

Buckwirth said:

Avastin
Stage 4. After four treatments of Folfox w/Avastin, my tumor and lymph nodes were 71% smaller. A little pain in the finger tips, some of the usual problems with Folfox, but nothing I wouldn't trade for these kind of results.

Buckwirth
Welcome to the board. Sorry about the Stage IV diagnosis. You, like my hubby George, have had a significant response to the chemo. Keep up the good work. George is now on maintenance chemo and it seems to be keeping things in check.

Take care - Tina