Alternatives when Avastin stops working

DK2

My wife has just finished chemotherapy and has started maintenance phase with Avastin only. Literature indicates that Avastin stops being helpful after a matter of months, as low as 2 months to an average of 8 months or so.

I would very much appreciate hearing from patients who have had Avastin therapy and are now on alterative treatments and how they are working out for them.
Thank you very much

stayingcalm

Tarceva?
Tarceva comes to mind - mostly because I take it and it put me into remission. I'm negative for the EGFR mutation and Tarceva works anyway.
Crizotinib (PF0234-1066) is in trials right now and shows a lot of promise.
XL184 is another up-and-coming drug, I believe it's still in trials.

Tarceva has been around for quite a while, but check the clinical trials site for the other two: ClinicalTrials.gov

DK2

stayingcalm said:

Tarceva?
Tarceva comes to mind - mostly because I take it and it put me into remission. I'm negative for the EGFR mutation and Tarceva works anyway.
Crizotinib (PF0234-1066) is in trials right now and shows a lot of promise.
XL184 is another up-and-coming drug, I believe it's still in trials.

Tarceva has been around for quite a while, but check the clinical trials site for the other two: ClinicalTrials.gov

Alternatives to Avastin
Thank you very much for very useful feedback indeed. My wife is also negative for EGFR. Our Onco also said that he may try Tarceva if nothing else works at the end. Crizotinib, if I recall right, is suitable for those with ALK positive. She has tested negative for ALK. She is positive for KRAS and I thought Nexavar would be good, but our Onco feels that recent tests are not very encouraging. I do not know about XL184, but will follow up. Meanwhile, she is on Avastin until it stops working.

Our very best wishes for you, "staying calm".

slr4nkh

DK2 said:

Alternatives to Avastin
Thank you very much for very useful feedback indeed. My wife is also negative for EGFR. Our Onco also said that he may try Tarceva if nothing else works at the end. Crizotinib, if I recall right, is suitable for those with ALK positive. She has tested negative for ALK. She is positive for KRAS and I thought Nexavar would be good, but our Onco feels that recent tests are not very encouraging. I do not know about XL184, but will follow up. Meanwhile, she is on Avastin until it stops working.

Our very best wishes for you, "staying calm".

KRAS positive
Just found this post as my mom is being tested for the KRAS mutation this week. She was negative for EGFR and ALK. She was on Carbo/Taxol/Avastin for 6 treatments and did shrink the only tumor. However, she has been on Alimta/Avastin for two treatments and CT scan shows growth in the outer shell/wall or tumor.

I was hoping you could give your experience with ONC recommendations and what you and your wife being KRAS positive?

Hope all is well with your wife.

dennycee

slr4nkh said:

KRAS positive
Just found this post as my mom is being tested for the KRAS mutation this week. She was negative for EGFR and ALK. She was on Carbo/Taxol/Avastin for 6 treatments and did shrink the only tumor. However, she has been on Alimta/Avastin for two treatments and CT scan shows growth in the outer shell/wall or tumor.

I was hoping you could give your experience with ONC recommendations and what you and your wife being KRAS positive?

Hope all is well with your wife.

Hi slr4nkh
Sorry, DK5 has not been on the boards in a while. You may want to talk to one of the KRAS patients at inspire.com.

3Mana

Avastin didn't work
My husband had 2 treatments of Avastin in 2010. About a week after the second one, he was fine all day and into the night. But all of a sudden he started hemmoraging and died. It was a very rare side effect and we never thought that would happen, but it did. I've been trying to find out if there have been any other people who have had this side effect, but so far no luck.
Hope your wife does good. Lung cancer along with all the other kinds are horrible. One day I hope they find a cure for all. I'll say a prayer for your wife. "Carole"

bgprincess

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/197996/alternatives-when-avastin-stops-working

I just wanted to add to the thread incase people are still curious.

i have stage 4 endometrial cancer of the uterine walls, had a full hysterectomy then placed on taxall/carbo/avastin for 6 months, followed by avastin indefinitely or until my body rejects it or stops working. I’ve been on avastin since 2020, in jan 2021 it metastasized to my brain, I had surgery to remove it then placed on dexamethazone steroids to keep the brain seelling down. Been on avastin every 3 weeks since I started. The brain tumor began to grow again in feb 2021 so they did pin point radiation. I was clear for the rest of 2021 and in about April 2022 they saw a small mass not sure if it was scar tissue or new growth, as the months have gone on it’s been growing again. Just this thanksgiving 2022 I had a seizure showing growth and now they’re saying avastin is really all I can do.

ive been doing research on other cancer drugs and trials as well. Because my tumor is now in the brain I’m going to see if there’s other brain tumor meds that could help since other most can’t go to the brain.

but I will say avastin has done a great job of keeping my body clear and and ok at maintaining my brain but don’t give up on yourself no matter what you’re facing. I wish you all the best of luck and want to remind you to fight for the care team that fits you. If you’re out of options turn to a palliative care team and social workers for help there are so many trials and also places to help pay the fees if you can’t afford.

i thank you guys for your previous input I’m going to ask my dr about tarceva

and specifically for brain tumors I’m looking into selinexor.

A clinical trial has found that selinexor, the first of a new class of anti-cancer drugs, was able to shrink tumors in almost a third of patients with recurrent glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer.