advice

carkris
carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
in Ovarian Cancer #1
I am here from the breast cancer board. I am a three time survivor.
I have a dear friend with ovarian cancer. I dont know what stage she was diagnosed in. she had debulking surgery then chemo. She now has a recurrance (mesenteric) I hope I have the wording correctly. She had carboplatin and taxol now she will have carboplatin alone. She says they are saying she is incurable and does not have long to live. Are there any other lines of chemo, that should be persued? She is wondering if carboplatin can only be given in a certain amount of doses. I know she can ask her doc about that, but I just wonder if anyone can suggest other options?

Thank you so much

Comments

  • azgrandma
    azgrandma Member Posts: 609 Member
    #2
    Second opinion
    is there any way she can get a second opinion
    Wishing all the best for her
  • Mwee
    Mwee Member Posts: 1,338
    #3
    friends
    Welcome and congrats on your survivorship. I want to thank you for being such a wonderful friend. I have two close friends that literally carry me through when times are tough and I would be so lost without their devotion.

    Carbo/taxol is considered the "gold standard" and the typical first line chemo for OVCA. Unfortunately, recurrance is quite common with this disease. There are several other chemos that we see being used, but generally they stick to one course of treatment unless it becomes inaffective. I'm currently on a long course of carbo and gemzar and need lots of premeds and steroids to tolerate it, but I'll stay with it as long as I can tolerate it.

    Please let us know if we can help you both....... ((((HUGS))) Maria
  • Cafewoman53
    Cafewoman53 Member Posts: 735 Member
    #4
    Second opinion
    My Dr is very good but if she told me there was no more hope I would want a second opinion . It can't hurt and if ever there was a time to get a second opinion it is now .
    Good Luck
    Colleen
  • Mum2bellaandwilliam
    Mum2bellaandwilliam Member Posts: 412
    #5
    Cafewoman53 said:

    Second opinion
    My Dr is very good but if she told me there was no more hope I would want a second opinion . It can't hurt and if ever there was a time to get a second opinion it is now .
    Good Luck
    Colleen

    There are several other
    There are several other drugs out therre that can be tried, look at the ladies on here, they heve had all sorts of combos, it may well not be curable ( but never say never) but it can be controlled for quite some time.
    My mum has PPC ( sister to ovarian but starts in the peritoneum rather than the ovary, treated the same) she had her first line same as your friend it has recurred and she has now started doxil, there is quite a few options ,if you have a look through some of the profiles here you will see what treatments some of the other women have had.
    Hope this helps, and I would certainly seek a second opinion.
  • kellyh33
    kellyh33 Member Posts: 287
    #6
    Chemo
    Hi,
    So sorry about your friend's illness. My Mom is also incurable but that doesn't mean there aren't other types of treatment available.
    Mom was diagnosed in June 2010 with at least stage three. She did three rounds of carboplatin, then surgery which was unsucessful due to the size and the location of the tumor. The only thing the oncologist was able to remove was her appendix so the beast is still in her. Next Mom had four more rounds of carboplatin and then she became carbo resistant.
    Currently mom is doing a clinical trial for people that are either carbo resistant or the first line treatment didn't work. Mom had her last CT scan March 8th, her tumor did not shrink nor has it grown. They call that a partial success. I call it successful since the tumor is the same size as it was in June and it has not metasized anywhere.
    Good luck,
    Kelly

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