Looking for advice please! :)

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  • julesio
    julesio Member Posts: 24
    #22
    westie66 said:

    Treatment for Secondary Peritoneum Cancer May Be Working
    Hi all: I have had 7 treatments (of oxilaplatin/irentocan/5FU)and like Da Beach Bum the latest MRI (last week) showed no progression of the cancer anywhere, some reduction in the peritoneum nodules both in size and number - I have only 5 now), and a possible disappearance of once of the nodules. So it may be that this chemo regime works for secondary peritoneum cancer! My oncologist is ecstatic as this hasn't been tried yet in Canada as far as I know for secondary seeding from gallbladder cancer. He wants to continue this chemo regime and is recommending me for the surgery that removes the peritoneum (done only in Calgary in Canada). I got turned down last year because it didn't appear that the chemo regime of cisplatin and gemcitibine was working.
    Cheryl

    Hey Westie that is amazing,
    Hey Westie that is amazing, good news! Is it a trial your on? Do they just do one drug one week and another the next or something?
  • westie66
    westie66 Member Posts: 642
    #23
    julesio said:

    Hey Westie that is amazing,
    Hey Westie that is amazing, good news! Is it a trial your on? Do they just do one drug one week and another the next or something?

    Treatment for Secondary Peritoneum Cancer
    Hi Julesio: No, I'm not on an official trial but my oncologist is a reknowned chemical oncologist here. My first treatment (Sept 2010 to March 2011) was cisplatin/gemcitibine which I tolerated very well. It may have stalled any new peritoneum nodule growth but didn't shrink anything. He did a lot of research and we started on the folfoxfiri treatment (oxaliplatin/irenotecan/leucovin/5FU pump) in May. I get all 3 of the chemicals at once every two weeks and the pump is removed after 42 hours. We don't know if one drug is best or it needs all three. As far as I know it hasn't been done here in Canada for secondary peritoneum cancer but did show some success in the USA. It is a tough regime as you know. My problem is the cost as I have to pay for the oxaliplatin (not covered by the government or my medical plan at the university - but some people get it covered if they have colon cancer which I don't (gallbladder cancer). He is recommending me for the peritoneum removal surgery in Calgary - scary surgery it seems to me.

    A very good friend of mine here is a catalan. Her family escaped during the Spanish Civil War to Mexico and Cuba. She does research on the stories of the old soldiers who fought during the war.

    Cheryl
  • wanttogetwellsoon
    wanttogetwellsoon Member Posts: 147
    #24
    peritoneal studding
    First, I'm sorry to hear about your partner's news. Second, whilst the internet is great for information, I don't think it's good to rely on it completely particularly when it comes to prognosis. You haven't said whether the bowel cancer and the peritoneal cancer are one entity or they are different types of cells. If they're different, it might explain why the peritoneal cancer isn't responding as well. Perhaps his oncologist will change the mix of the chemo. The prognosis depends on the type of cancer a person has, whether it's aggressive, what, if any, metastatis there is, to what extent it has spread within the local area and then how any individual responds to treatment. When I looked on the internet at my peritoneal cancer, I was shocked at what I was reading. Then I learned that the grade of my cancer is 1. It's slow growing and more like the original cells it comes from than more aggressive tumours. That said, the cancer is well advanced and a lot of damage has been done to my abdomen which I find scary to say the least. You'll find lots of information on the information on HIPEC treatment. The trouble is with cancer is that sometimes, it's best not to operate as this can cause further difficulties. HIPEC isn't the easy option and the treatment can be more difficult to bear than IV chemo. The drug seems to get to where it needs to be on the plus side. I can't have HIPEC because my organs are stuck together with adhesions and the adhesions themselves have tumours on them. Apparently, there is no blood supply to adhesions and tumours there aren't going to respond at all. My own cancer is managed palliatively in that the chemo is for symptom relief and not a cure. When I was told in March that the cancer was advanced, I thought I only had a short time left. Now I've been told that according to the latest tentative research, some kinds of tumours of the peritoneum don't act in the same way as ovarian cancers and, in fact, rather than the two cancers being alike, they are, in fact, separate entities. More research is needed into peritoneal cancer to track the disease so that proper drugs for the job can be developed. I hope this helps. :)
  • MarisaUK54
    MarisaUK54 Member Posts: 41
    #25
    westie66 said:

    Treatment for Secondary Peritoneum Cancer
    Hi Julesio: No, I'm not on an official trial but my oncologist is a reknowned chemical oncologist here. My first treatment (Sept 2010 to March 2011) was cisplatin/gemcitibine which I tolerated very well. It may have stalled any new peritoneum nodule growth but didn't shrink anything. He did a lot of research and we started on the folfoxfiri treatment (oxaliplatin/irenotecan/leucovin/5FU pump) in May. I get all 3 of the chemicals at once every two weeks and the pump is removed after 42 hours. We don't know if one drug is best or it needs all three. As far as I know it hasn't been done here in Canada for secondary peritoneum cancer but did show some success in the USA. It is a tough regime as you know. My problem is the cost as I have to pay for the oxaliplatin (not covered by the government or my medical plan at the university - but some people get it covered if they have colon cancer which I don't (gallbladder cancer). He is recommending me for the peritoneum removal surgery in Calgary - scary surgery it seems to me.

    A very good friend of mine here is a catalan. Her family escaped during the Spanish Civil War to Mexico and Cuba. She does research on the stories of the old soldiers who fought during the war.

    Cheryl

    Peritoneum removel?
    Hello..

    I am quite new to this site but am interested in all comments made here as information generally seems a bit scarce. I was intererested in reading what you'd written; can the peritoneum be removed then?

    Thanks,
    Marisa
  • AussieMaddie
    AussieMaddie Member Posts: 345 Member
    #26
    MarisaUK54 said:

    Peritoneum removel?
    Hello..

    I am quite new to this site but am interested in all comments made here as information generally seems a bit scarce. I was intererested in reading what you'd written; can the peritoneum be removed then?

    Thanks,
    Marisa

    Hi Marisa and welcome.
    It's
    Hi Marisa and welcome.

    It's a good question. I don't really know that answer, would like to know too. It's probably a good idea to ask it in a new thread so I will start one. That way it will likely get more attention and answers.

    So look out for the new thread "Removing peritoneum?"

    For now,

    AussieMaddie
  • MarisaUK54
    MarisaUK54 Member Posts: 41
    #27
    AussieMaddie said:

    Hi Marisa and welcome.
    It's
    Hi Marisa and welcome.

    It's a good question. I don't really know that answer, would like to know too. It's probably a good idea to ask it in a new thread so I will start one. That way it will likely get more attention and answers.

    So look out for the new thread "Removing peritoneum?"

    For now,

    AussieMaddie

    New Thread...
    Hi...

    Ok, thanks Maddie, I'll certainly look out for that.

    All the best,
    Marisa
  • westie66
    westie66 Member Posts: 642
    #28
    wanttogetwellsoon said:

    peritoneal studding
    First, I'm sorry to hear about your partner's news. Second, whilst the internet is great for information, I don't think it's good to rely on it completely particularly when it comes to prognosis. You haven't said whether the bowel cancer and the peritoneal cancer are one entity or they are different types of cells. If they're different, it might explain why the peritoneal cancer isn't responding as well. Perhaps his oncologist will change the mix of the chemo. The prognosis depends on the type of cancer a person has, whether it's aggressive, what, if any, metastatis there is, to what extent it has spread within the local area and then how any individual responds to treatment. When I looked on the internet at my peritoneal cancer, I was shocked at what I was reading. Then I learned that the grade of my cancer is 1. It's slow growing and more like the original cells it comes from than more aggressive tumours. That said, the cancer is well advanced and a lot of damage has been done to my abdomen which I find scary to say the least. You'll find lots of information on the information on HIPEC treatment. The trouble is with cancer is that sometimes, it's best not to operate as this can cause further difficulties. HIPEC isn't the easy option and the treatment can be more difficult to bear than IV chemo. The drug seems to get to where it needs to be on the plus side. I can't have HIPEC because my organs are stuck together with adhesions and the adhesions themselves have tumours on them. Apparently, there is no blood supply to adhesions and tumours there aren't going to respond at all. My own cancer is managed palliatively in that the chemo is for symptom relief and not a cure. When I was told in March that the cancer was advanced, I thought I only had a short time left. Now I've been told that according to the latest tentative research, some kinds of tumours of the peritoneum don't act in the same way as ovarian cancers and, in fact, rather than the two cancers being alike, they are, in fact, separate entities. More research is needed into peritoneal cancer to track the disease so that proper drugs for the job can be developed. I hope this helps. :)

    Peritoneum Removal
    Hi: Sorry, putting this response at the end as I get confused when new items are placed earlier. Sorry! Anyways, yes the peritoneum can be removed surgically. The surgery is called peritoneum stripping. The surgery to remove as many tumours in the abdominal cavity as possible before that surgery is called debulking. As far as I know. The omentum is part of the peritoneum, the fatty part that hangs over the stomach like a blobby curtain. It too can be removed. As far as I read, the peritoneum can grow back though. Not sure what holds in all the things in your abdomen once the peritoneum has been removed surgically though!
    I, too, am being treated chemically (IV type) for peritoneum seeding (oxaliplatin-irenotecan-5FU pump) although my oncologist wants to get me into the surgery.
    Cheryl

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