If PET Scan Is Poor, Can Dr. Stop Tarceva

TomM1956728
TomM1956728 Member Posts: 64
in Lung Cancer #1

Hello,

 

My mother has been taking Tarceva for over 2 months.

 

She is afraid of having another PET Scan cause she thinks that if the cancer has spread, the oncologist will refuse to prescribe any more Tarceva.

 

Is that a valid concern?

 

Your thoughts and feedback is highly appreciated.  Thank you!

 

Tom

Comments

  • dennycee
    dennycee Member Posts: 857 Member
    #2
    Welcome to CSN boards.

    if your mom's CT shows significant progression they would take her off Tarceva.  If she is stable or shows very slight progression they will likely keep her on it.  The reasoning behind mild progression is that there may be a lag between the base ct and the time an effective amount of the drug is in her system.  

    Tarceva is incredibly expensive and has its own list of side effects.  Does she say why she wants to take it if it isn't working?  There are other maintenance chemos that may work better for her.  

  • TomM1956728
    TomM1956728 Member Posts: 64
    #3
    dennycee said:

    Welcome to CSN boards.

    if your mom's CT shows significant progression they would take her off Tarceva.  If she is stable or shows very slight progression they will likely keep her on it.  The reasoning behind mild progression is that there may be a lag between the base ct and the time an effective amount of the drug is in her system.  

    Tarceva is incredibly expensive and has its own list of side effects.  Does she say why she wants to take it if it isn't working?  There are other maintenance chemos that may work better for her.  

    Thanks for your Kind help

    Thank you Dennycee for your kind help.  It's good to know that the Dr. may keep her on Tarceva if there is slight progression.

    The reason my mother is taking Tarceva is because the Dr. said he will no longer give her chemo since the chemo damaged her heart and put her in the emergency room 3 times.  He wanted to send her to hospice so we pleaded that he let her try Tarceva.  He reluctantly agreed saying that Tarceva works for less than 8 percent of the patients.

    My mother senses that Tarceva may be working and she is afraid that if Tarceva doesn't work, the Dr. will once again be adamant that she has to go to hospice since she can't have chemo.

    Thank you once again for your kind help.

    Tom

     

     

  • dennycee
    dennycee Member Posts: 857 Member
    #4
    TomM1956728 said:

    Thanks for your Kind help

    Thank you Dennycee for your kind help.  It's good to know that the Dr. may keep her on Tarceva if there is slight progression.

    The reason my mother is taking Tarceva is because the Dr. said he will no longer give her chemo since the chemo damaged her heart and put her in the emergency room 3 times.  He wanted to send her to hospice so we pleaded that he let her try Tarceva.  He reluctantly agreed saying that Tarceva works for less than 8 percent of the patients.

    My mother senses that Tarceva may be working and she is afraid that if Tarceva doesn't work, the Dr. will once again be adamant that she has to go to hospice since she can't have chemo.

    Thank you once again for your kind help.

    Tom

     

     

    Clinical Trial?

    One of our number-FeistyD-has been participating in a PD 1 trial.  As she was out of options.  She has

    had tremendous success with the trial.  Technically, it is not a chemo.  This link connects to the blog

    of another woman I know.  She does a really good job explaining it.  I hope this helps to and that you will

    consider it.  

    https://grayconnections.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/the-basics-of-pd-1/

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