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Tarceva

TomM1956728
TomM1956728 CSN Member Posts: 64
in Esophageal Cancer #1

 

My mother has stage 4 esophageal cancer, and she has been getting chemo for the last 2 years. 

 

Two of the last three chemos caused heart problems and landed her in the hospital.  The third chemo (the most recent one) caused a colon infection and low white cells.

 

Based on her age – she is 88 years old – and the problems she has lately experienced with chemo, her oncologist says he no longer wants to give her chemo.

 

He wants to call hospice.

 

Out of desperation, I asked if she could try a pill called Tarceva, which I’ve read about. 

 

The oncologist said that Tarceva works for less than 10 percent of patients. 

 

I told him we have nothing to lose since, according to the oncologist, without chemo, she only has about 6 months left.  So he agreed to prescribe Tarceva to see if it might work for my mother.

 

Has anyone tried Tarceva?  I would greatly appreciate any information you could provide, including whether or not it worked, what side effects you experienced, etc.

 

Thank you very much for your kind help!!!  Tom

 

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