Severe Allergic reaction to Oxaliplatin - I almost died!

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  • gmtexas
    gmtexas Member Posts: 13 Member
    #22
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    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/321207/severe-allergic-reaction-to-oxaliplatin-i-almost-died

    Good day Joan, I am new to CSN and noticed your original post, January 24, 2020. I hope and pray things have gone well these last several months... you deserve positive news regarding your cancer. You referenced the Phase 2 clinical trial, sponsored by Bayer, with their chemo drug Regorafenib and BMS' immuno drug Nivolumab (Opdivo) as a potential treatment at Mayo Clinic. I understand that this Phase 2 clinical trial ended December of 2021. If you participated, my hope is you received a positive response. If you and your oncologist team chose another treatment, then I hope the treatment you chose went well. To you and all late stage colorectal cancer patients, let's continue to reset the clock (stay alive), while new treatments come to life.

  • OnTheRoad
    OnTheRoad Member Posts: 31 Member
    #23
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    I had my first 12 sessions of Folfox in 2018 and had 12 rounds back again late last year and early this year.

    On this year, on the 2nd or 3rd infusion I also started to fell very odd and started to present some of the symptoms mentioned here. Feeling of throat trying to close, I got itchy all around my body, started to get really red on my chest and face, etc... The doctors were fast and gave me medicine immediately, so I recovered in about 30 minutes.

    The outcome is that my infusion time was increased to 4 hours and I had to take several different antialergic medicines, starting 2 days before chemo, at each session. With the antialergic medicines and extension of the infusion time, I was able to finalize all 12 rounds of chemo without feeling the symptoms mentioned above.

    My onc said creating alergy for Oxaliplatin is not rare and that some people are simply not able to continue having Oxaliplatin, so they move to another chemo solution - or simply remove Oxaliplating from the chemo treatment.

  • IAMCCC
    IAMCCC Member Posts: 4 Member
    #24
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    Thanks, OnTheRoad. Yes, I had the itching all over and chest and face redness as well. Interesting. Doc did not prescribe allergy meds before my next infusion today but I’m supposed to get that today and steroid (Prednisone) before they start oxaliplatin this morning. And my infusion has been increased to 4 hours also. ALT and AST and Bilirubin all suddenly doubled in 1 month since before chemo and are now above the normal range. CEA also increasing, so will need to watch that in regard to liver metastasis and/or toxicity. Best wishes to you!

  • DanNH
    DanNH Member Posts: 185 Member
    #25
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    My wife Pam had a reaction to oxaliplatin on infusion 5. The nurse picked up on it right away and called for the oncologist. They stopped the anaphylaxis and were able to continue with the rest of the protocol that day.

    She got switched to Folfiri for months and when that started to slow down with good results she went back on oxaliplatin.

    She had allergy testing and tested as not allergic. She was sent to the desensitization unit and received the medication in small doses over a long period of time. The process took most of the day. The costs of these treatments (insurance paid) was staggering!We got four infusions before she started with skin irritation (allergic) and questionable results. She is back on Folfiri and the CEA is moving wildly in both directions, hundreds of points from test to test.

    Dan

  • IAMCCC
    IAMCCC Member Posts: 4 Member
    #26
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    Thanks, DanNH. My oncologist also said she did not believe it was an allergic reaction. Steroids and Benadryl (by IV drip) before my 2nd oxaliplatin infusion helped lessen the reaction, but it still occurred towards the end of the infusion. We'll see if it continues to work. Yes, I also have the skin irritation on arms, face and chest and my CEA is unpredictable (and my oncologist says don't pay attention to it). I am trying to find a way to get a ctDNA test done, but it requires a physician and my health care provider (Kaiser) does not have a contract with any test provider yet. But it appears to be a significant development in determining if and how much (more) chemo is needed from time to time. Best wishes to you and your wife in getting through this successfully.

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