Gemzar lungs/breathing side effect question

lisa42

Hello,

I'm Lisa and I'm normally on the colorectal board (stage IV colorectal cancer w/ mets to liver and lungs, dx'd 8/07). I'm posting on the breast cancer board since I am on Gemzar and it is normally prescribed for some forms of breast cancer (and I think pancreatic and kidney). I live in north San Diego county, CA. Since I've already "used up" all the FDA approved drugs for colorectal cancer and I didn't qualify for any clinical trials within a hundred mile radius, my oncologist (w/ the recommendation of both Dr. Lenz from USC and Dr. Fanta from UCSD) put me on a combination of Gemzar, Xeloda, and Avastin. This was based on a clinical trial awhile back at USC showing advanced colorectal patients could benefit from Gemzar and Xeloda together.
Anyhow, I've been on it since March and my CEA (colon cancer blood tumor marker) started dropping after I went on it. My first scan showed everything was stable, which was good since things had been growing before. I'm now coming up on my next scan at the end of this week, but I am concerned that something I'm experiencing lately may actually be a Gemzar side effect... I have had shortness of breath and wheezing. Now, I have a mild case of asthma, but haven't experienced any symptoms in years. I do have numerous lung nodules, so I was assuming that maybe they are growing and that is what is causing the wheezing and shortness of breath. That may actually be the situation and my scan results will let me know if lung nodules/tumors are growing or not.
*I am just wondering if anyone who has been on Gemzar has had any issues or problems with their lungs as a side effect. Supposedly this is a rarer side effect of the drug, but that seems to be me in everything I take- it's always me getting some unusual side effect that my oncology nurses and doctor have never heard of. Maybe I'll have to add this one in, but it's concerning to me.

Thanks in advance for any replies or info-
Lisa

VickiSam

Important .. subject matter ..
Bumping .. it up ..


Vicki

jo jo

Wow Lisa it sounds like your
Wow Lisa it sounds like your really going thru it...Sorry i dont know anything about the drug Gemzar. I hope you find some answers. I wish you all the luck in your journey.

Megan M

jo jo said:

Wow Lisa it sounds like your
Wow Lisa it sounds like your really going thru it...Sorry i dont know anything about the drug Gemzar. I hope you find some answers. I wish you all the luck in your journey.

Wish I could help too Lisa,
Wish I could help too Lisa, but, I just want to wish you good luck. I am hoping someone that knows about this will post.

Hugs, Megan

lisa42

bumpin it up to the top
Hi,

Me again- just bumping this up in hopes that someone who's had Gemzar will comment.
Thanks-

Lisa

survivor9yrs

lisa42 said:

bumpin it up to the top
Hi,

Me again- just bumping this up in hopes that someone who's had Gemzar will comment.
Thanks-

Lisa

gemzar
lisa,
i too took gemzar. i had a great deal of breathing problems. the first dose, i noticed i was short of breath. with each dose, it got worse. i could hardly get through a shower, let alone walk around. i also took taxotere. i had to have 3 transfusions. the drugs depleted my red blood count. the taxotere caused me to retain excessive fluid. between the two, i could hardly navigate. once i finished the drugs, it all went back to normal. during this time, it was found that 3-4 lymph nodes were enlarged and i had edema on my lungs. after abt. 4mos. my scan showed the nodes, regressing. i had BC 10 yrs. ago. lumpectomy and radiation. this cancer, angiosarcoma, was caused by the radiation. so now i am back at square one. i am now a 1 yrs. survivor of this cancer. doing good. hang in there. i wish you all the best.
survivor 9yrs.
ps
my nephew, 41, has stage 4 colon cancer. he finished his chemo. it was all through his liver and one or two spots on lungs. he is taking all sorts of vitimins and such. he is getting one supplement, which is suppose to help a great deal. he has survived 1 yr. now, and hopefully he will be a life long survivor.

betsymaxam

gemzar and lungs
I'm on Gemzar and have been having difficulty in breathing and very short of breath.
Was taken off Gemzar for surgery approximately 2 months and my breathing almost recovered completely. Now I'm back on and the same old breathing problems are back. I've been through most of the ovarian cancer drugs. Gemzar is really working on my cancer but I not sure of the trade off. At first I thought maybe it was the cancer spreading or other factors but at this point I'm confident it's the Gemzar. I'll be consulting with my onconlocist for what other options might be open for me.