Can we take capectabine instead of infusional 5-FU ?

bala07
bala07 Member Posts: 25
in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hello,

My mom has been diagnosed with stage3 rectal cancer with 10 lymph nodes/26 found to be +ve for cancer. After surgery she has started on FOLFOX, two cycles of chemo and radiation is over as of now. On her second cycle, it became very difficult to find good veins and she had to be poked for multiple times for the 48hr 5-FU infusion. So doctor suggested to go for oral chemo tablet - capectabine which can be taken instead of infusional 5-FU so that only 3-4 hrs of infusional medicine for oxalyplatin and leucovirin would be needed else she might have to go for chemo port.

We are in favour of taking oral medicine instead of chemo port. Have anyone taken this oral medicine for adjuvant chemo treatment for rectal cancer ? Is it exact equivalent of 5 FU infusion? Same side effects should be expected?

Any information would be greatly helpful.

God bless.

Bala

Comments

  • Buckwirth
    Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
    #2
    Bala
    The port is a blessing, whether one hour or five hours of infusion. It saves the veins, and even makes hospital stays more liveable.

    Xeloda is a viable alternative for 5FU, but even with this your mother should reconsider the port.
  • abrub
    abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
    #3
    I second Buckwirth
    The port is much easier to work with than veins. It's definitely worth it for the IV portion, even if going for oral chemo.

    You also know exactly where to numb before chemo, so there is no pain when the needle is put in - a great advantage.
  • marqimark
    marqimark Member Posts: 242 Member
    #4
    insurance
    Get the port for all the reasons already mentioned.

    Also...

    I was going to have to take oral instead of infusion due to a shortage of Leukavorin (SP) for the last four rounds of chemo.
    My insurance covered infusions 100% by this point and my out of pocket for the oral med $550 each bottle/round.
    I would have had to pay way more and take the oral meds with all the side effects every day for two weeks.
    My cycle would have been every three weeks instead of two.
    Thankfully the clinic was able to find enough Leuk. for my last rounds of chemo.

    \Mark
  • lisa42
    lisa42 Member Posts: 3,625 Member
    #5
    I've taken it
    Hi,

    I have taken Xeloda pills instead of getting the 5FU infused. Studies have shown that the Xeloda is at least as effective as 5FU & one study even had Xeloda doing better by 1 or 2 percentage points.
    With that said, some people (including me) experience different side effects on Xeloda than they do on 5FU. I have always hated having the 5FU pump hooked up to me & longed to try Xeloda. I did fine on it for awhile, but then I started getting hand-foot syndrome pretty severely- blistered hands and feet so that I couldn't walk, open anything, and my fingertips were peeling so badly that they were shaking and I couldn't feel anything there. I was told that was an extreme reaction & most people don't get it so bad & some don't get it at all. I switched back to 5FU and don't have those problems anymore (it has side effects, but more tolerable for me than with Xeloda). I have heard some people actually have less side effects while on Xeloda vs the 5FU. Everyone's body reacts differently.

    As the others said, I do think it's important to get the port. It may not be fun at first, but it makes the infusions easier in the long run. The only one that may be a wee bit uncomfortable is the first infusion after getting the port (while it's still healing)- after that, it's much better. I've talked to a couple of people at my chemo center who got ports after taking chemo in their arm vein for a while & they said the port is better.

    Take care-
    Lisa
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    #6
    lisa42 said:

    I've taken it
    Hi,

    I have taken Xeloda pills instead of getting the 5FU infused. Studies have shown that the Xeloda is at least as effective as 5FU & one study even had Xeloda doing better by 1 or 2 percentage points.
    With that said, some people (including me) experience different side effects on Xeloda than they do on 5FU. I have always hated having the 5FU pump hooked up to me & longed to try Xeloda. I did fine on it for awhile, but then I started getting hand-foot syndrome pretty severely- blistered hands and feet so that I couldn't walk, open anything, and my fingertips were peeling so badly that they were shaking and I couldn't feel anything there. I was told that was an extreme reaction & most people don't get it so bad & some don't get it at all. I switched back to 5FU and don't have those problems anymore (it has side effects, but more tolerable for me than with Xeloda). I have heard some people actually have less side effects while on Xeloda vs the 5FU. Everyone's body reacts differently.

    As the others said, I do think it's important to get the port. It may not be fun at first, but it makes the infusions easier in the long run. The only one that may be a wee bit uncomfortable is the first infusion after getting the port (while it's still healing)- after that, it's much better. I've talked to a couple of people at my chemo center who got ports after taking chemo in their arm vein for a while & they said the port is better.

    Take care-
    Lisa

    have you considered a PICC ?
    It is better than your veins for infusion tho it has drawbacks compared to a port but it is a viable option.
  • bala07
    bala07 Member Posts: 25
    #7
    lisa42 said:

    I've taken it
    Hi,

    I have taken Xeloda pills instead of getting the 5FU infused. Studies have shown that the Xeloda is at least as effective as 5FU & one study even had Xeloda doing better by 1 or 2 percentage points.
    With that said, some people (including me) experience different side effects on Xeloda than they do on 5FU. I have always hated having the 5FU pump hooked up to me & longed to try Xeloda. I did fine on it for awhile, but then I started getting hand-foot syndrome pretty severely- blistered hands and feet so that I couldn't walk, open anything, and my fingertips were peeling so badly that they were shaking and I couldn't feel anything there. I was told that was an extreme reaction & most people don't get it so bad & some don't get it at all. I switched back to 5FU and don't have those problems anymore (it has side effects, but more tolerable for me than with Xeloda). I have heard some people actually have less side effects while on Xeloda vs the 5FU. Everyone's body reacts differently.

    As the others said, I do think it's important to get the port. It may not be fun at first, but it makes the infusions easier in the long run. The only one that may be a wee bit uncomfortable is the first infusion after getting the port (while it's still healing)- after that, it's much better. I've talked to a couple of people at my chemo center who got ports after taking chemo in their arm vein for a while & they said the port is better.

    Take care-
    Lisa

    Thanks Lisa.. In xeloda.com
    Thanks Lisa.. In xeloda.com website I saw that xeloda is given for treatment of metastatic breast cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer and adjuvant colon cancer, whereas adjuvant rectal cancer wasnt specified. So I wanted to know if anyone of rectal cancer stage 3 had taken xeloda...
    Also one more q.. would hair loss be more for xeloda than folfox? Till now, for 2 cycles of folfox, hair loss is not very significant yet.. I want to know what should be expected.. she is too sensitive about this..
    thanks all..
    God bless.
  • abrub
    abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
    #8
    bala07 said:

    Thanks Lisa.. In xeloda.com
    Thanks Lisa.. In xeloda.com website I saw that xeloda is given for treatment of metastatic breast cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer and adjuvant colon cancer, whereas adjuvant rectal cancer wasnt specified. So I wanted to know if anyone of rectal cancer stage 3 had taken xeloda...
    Also one more q.. would hair loss be more for xeloda than folfox? Till now, for 2 cycles of folfox, hair loss is not very significant yet.. I want to know what should be expected.. she is too sensitive about this..
    thanks all..
    God bless.

    Hair loss is not significant
    with 5FU (either in FolFox or Xeloda). I lost body hair, but the hair on my head remained intact, tho it became straight. I did lose eyelashes and eyebrows, which made makeup difficult, but still workable.

    Having said that, there are some people who have more significant hair loss with 5FU. However, most people don't have the hair loss. With chemo for breast cancer (other than the 5FU), for example, you know you will lose all of your hair by the second treatment. It is not a given with Folfox (tho I believe it is more of a problem with Ironitecan)
  • bala07
    bala07 Member Posts: 25
    #9
    abrub said:

    Hair loss is not significant
    with 5FU (either in FolFox or Xeloda). I lost body hair, but the hair on my head remained intact, tho it became straight. I did lose eyelashes and eyebrows, which made makeup difficult, but still workable.

    Having said that, there are some people who have more significant hair loss with 5FU. However, most people don't have the hair loss. With chemo for breast cancer (other than the 5FU), for example, you know you will lose all of your hair by the second treatment. It is not a given with Folfox (tho I believe it is more of a problem with Ironitecan)

    shifting from FOLFOX to xeloda has problems?
    This is one study conducted that says shifting from folfox to xeloda will have sever side effects..
    http://fightcolorectalcancer.org/research_news/2008/07/switching_from_5fu_to_xeloda_can_cause_significant_side_effects

    Is the above true?
    Has anyone shifted after few cycles of FOLFOX to xeloda? Did you have any increased side effects?

    We were almost to go with xeloda and now Iam totally confused after going thro the above link..

    Thanks a lot,in advance..
  • westie66
    westie66 Member Posts: 642
    #10
    bala07 said:

    shifting from FOLFOX to xeloda has problems?
    This is one study conducted that says shifting from folfox to xeloda will have sever side effects..
    http://fightcolorectalcancer.org/research_news/2008/07/switching_from_5fu_to_xeloda_can_cause_significant_side_effects

    Is the above true?
    Has anyone shifted after few cycles of FOLFOX to xeloda? Did you have any increased side effects?

    We were almost to go with xeloda and now Iam totally confused after going thro the above link..

    Thanks a lot,in advance..

    Folfox and Xeloda
    Hi: I don't have rectal cancer but rather secondary peritoneum cancer from gallbladder cancer seeding. I asked my oncologist yesterday about Xeloda. I can't do it here in Canada because it is very very expensive and not covered by the government or my private medical plan. He is not convinced it works better than the 5FU pump (as I understand it, it is another form of 5FU). If you can, tell her to get the port, but I have a PICC line and it works very well except you have to cover it with a plastic sleeve when showering or bathing. I, too, could no longer withstand the IV method - no veins any more which is also a problem when getting a CT or MRI which requires an IV for contrast dye. Re the hair loss. I lost body hair and some hair on my eyebrows and eyelashes but not enough to worry about. My hair did break off about 2 inches from my scalp and the hair texture changed. I don't need a wig yet though.
    Cheryl

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