Chemotherapy Help?

Super-b

JP1965 said:

ERBITUX side effects after Cisplatin side effects too damaging

I'm devastated at this point with my cancer treatment.  Stage IV, head/neck cancer - squamous cell carcinoma.  I am a 49 yr old woman, which this type of cancer is rare for me.  treatment immediately began with surgery to remove tonsils and several biopsies plus extremely invasive biopsy to large lymphnode tumor on left side of neck; also to find primary.  No such luck.  Radiation has been ongoing monday throught friday for the last 3.5 wks, 1 week out due to cisplatin/radiation poisoning and now the RAD machines have been down last 2 days.  Med oncologist is insisting on stopping at my last dose of cisplatin due to hearing loss which is possibly reversible and some painful neuropathy in right foot.  Now she is switching me to Erbitux and after reading side effects from this one, I'm terrified and more than a little upset.  Isn't there anything other than these two that I coud possibly try?  I had only one dose left of the cisplatin to go...so disappointed   Any advice or helpful thoughts would be so greatly appreciated, I am at my breaking point...

Thank you,

Jen

Carboplatin

after 2 session with the cisplatin the hearing damage was quite severe so I opted for carboplati.

worked for me

corleone

JP1965 said:

ERBITUX side effects after Cisplatin side effects too damaging

I'm devastated at this point with my cancer treatment.  Stage IV, head/neck cancer - squamous cell carcinoma.  I am a 49 yr old woman, which this type of cancer is rare for me.  treatment immediately began with surgery to remove tonsils and several biopsies plus extremely invasive biopsy to large lymphnode tumor on left side of neck; also to find primary.  No such luck.  Radiation has been ongoing monday throught friday for the last 3.5 wks, 1 week out due to cisplatin/radiation poisoning and now the RAD machines have been down last 2 days.  Med oncologist is insisting on stopping at my last dose of cisplatin due to hearing loss which is possibly reversible and some painful neuropathy in right foot.  Now she is switching me to Erbitux and after reading side effects from this one, I'm terrified and more than a little upset.  Isn't there anything other than these two that I coud possibly try?  I had only one dose left of the cisplatin to go...so disappointed   Any advice or helpful thoughts would be so greatly appreciated, I am at my breaking point...

Thank you,

Jen

Carboplatin

I had a different type of cancer (nasopharyngeal carcinoma), but the treatment is pretty similar (except I didn’t have surgery). It hit me when I was 46y, and it’s also extremely rare in Caucasians. Anyway, I had the same issue with cisplatin, the third session concurrent (with radiation) cisplatin was canceled due to ototoxicity (lost 50% of the hearing, mainly the higher frequencies, to the point I can’t understand/hear some consonants (s, t, k); everything that goes above 1-2KHz sounds muffled or can’t hear at all).

As other mentioned, carboplatin is less toxic, and much easier to tolerate. It’s a second choice (after cisplatin), as it’s not really clear if the efficacy is the same (some studies show to be the same, other less).

No personal experience with Erbitux.

 

vickyd123

JP1965 said:

ERBITUX side effects after Cisplatin side effects too damaging

I'm devastated at this point with my cancer treatment.  Stage IV, head/neck cancer - squamous cell carcinoma.  I am a 49 yr old woman, which this type of cancer is rare for me.  treatment immediately began with surgery to remove tonsils and several biopsies plus extremely invasive biopsy to large lymphnode tumor on left side of neck; also to find primary.  No such luck.  Radiation has been ongoing monday throught friday for the last 3.5 wks, 1 week out due to cisplatin/radiation poisoning and now the RAD machines have been down last 2 days.  Med oncologist is insisting on stopping at my last dose of cisplatin due to hearing loss which is possibly reversible and some painful neuropathy in right foot.  Now she is switching me to Erbitux and after reading side effects from this one, I'm terrified and more than a little upset.  Isn't there anything other than these two that I coud possibly try?  I had only one dose left of the cisplatin to go...so disappointed   Any advice or helpful thoughts would be so greatly appreciated, I am at my breaking point...

Thank you,

Jen

Cisplatin

My husband had BOT /one lymph node. He was given 30 radiation treatments. He was suppose to get 3 treatments of cisplatin. Beginning, middle, end. He had hearing loss and tinnitus after the first treatment so they switched him to once a week carboplatin. He never lost his hair (just at the back where the radiation hit ) but not from the chemo. He had a lot less side effects from the carboplatin. His hearing is normal now, and the tinnitus is almost gone as well.