anyone else have allergic reactions to erbitux?

sunshine_64
sunshine_64 Member Posts: 50
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
I have stage 4 advanced tonsil cancer and had my first chemotreatment ("front loaded"--400mg per square meter body mass) of erbitux (or cetuximab) on Friday. I had pretty serious chills, my blood pressure went way up, and because my temperature spiked (101.9) I went to ER (lots of laughs for 5 1/2 hours). My oncologist says this was a classic "hypersensitivity reaction" and that lots of people get this from the first dose. Any others out there with this experience?

Comments

  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #2
    Not Really....
    I didn't have any reactions, to my Chemo...(Cisplatin, Taxotere, 5FU and Carboplatin)...

    But, there were some in the chemo center that did have reactions. Usually they gave them drips of BENADRYL or something similar, and also slowed down there infusion rates if on a pump.

    Welcome to the forum...

    Myself, I was STG III Tonsils and a lymphnode...(HPV+)..

    Dx in January 2009, Tx ended June 2009, all good since then..

    You can find tons of good info from the SuperThread that we have created for this forum also.

    SuperThread

    Best,
    John
  • longtermsurvivor
    longtermsurvivor Member Posts: 1,842 Member
    #3
    that is classic
    Sorry for the problem, but several percent of people get that. In part, hypersensitivity to erbitux seems to relate to where in the country you live, believe it or not. I had trouble on erbitux, but not like you describe. My skin was simply overly reactive to the drug, and it was a struggle all the way through treatment. It is a very efficatious drug for SCC however, so every attempt to stay on it should be made. Are they going to try again, at a lower dose and longer duration, or what is the plan now?

    BtW, do not despair. If you cannot take erbitux there are other ways to do this that also work. So you need to hang in there despite the setback.

    Welcome to the group. It takes special skills to join us. YOu already have demonstrated you posess those skills:)

    Pat
  • sunshine_64
    sunshine_64 Member Posts: 50
    #4
    longtermsurvivor said:

    that is classic
    Sorry for the problem, but several percent of people get that. In part, hypersensitivity to erbitux seems to relate to where in the country you live, believe it or not. I had trouble on erbitux, but not like you describe. My skin was simply overly reactive to the drug, and it was a struggle all the way through treatment. It is a very efficatious drug for SCC however, so every attempt to stay on it should be made. Are they going to try again, at a lower dose and longer duration, or what is the plan now?

    BtW, do not despair. If you cannot take erbitux there are other ways to do this that also work. So you need to hang in there despite the setback.

    Welcome to the group. It takes special skills to join us. YOu already have demonstrated you posess those skills:)

    Pat

    sometimes just hanging by a thread
    Thanks some much for the replies--I am pretty sure the oncologist is going to keep me on erbitux. And, yes, I read the research on how the reactions vary by country and/or region (could it be different brands, formulas?) Odd. I am waiting for the rash, hoping it will arrive, as some of the research suggests the rash is correlated with effectiveness of the drug.

    It is amazing how much research we all have to do to keep on top of what questions need to be asked, what soap to use, no makeup, etc. I have my first radiation treatment tomorrow (and yes, I found that discussion board very useful also). This website is a great find and has already been a great comfort to me.

    Thanks very much to you all.
  • longtermsurvivor
    longtermsurvivor Member Posts: 1,842 Member
    #5
    sunshine_64 said:

    sometimes just hanging by a thread
    Thanks some much for the replies--I am pretty sure the oncologist is going to keep me on erbitux. And, yes, I read the research on how the reactions vary by country and/or region (could it be different brands, formulas?) Odd. I am waiting for the rash, hoping it will arrive, as some of the research suggests the rash is correlated with effectiveness of the drug.

    It is amazing how much research we all have to do to keep on top of what questions need to be asked, what soap to use, no makeup, etc. I have my first radiation treatment tomorrow (and yes, I found that discussion board very useful also). This website is a great find and has already been a great comfort to me.

    Thanks very much to you all.

    the anticipated arrival of the rash
    I remember waiting also, kind of with anticipation. My rash started on day three. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I may never know, it later just about peeled my face off:) I did get a marvelous cancer reaction to the drug, OTOH, in that by the third month they could no longer even see my cancer on a PET scan. They did end up stopping my erbitux about three weeks before they had planned; I was just too reactive to the drug. And it took about 2 months for my skin to settle down afterwards. Parts of this were pretty miserable, but what the heck, if it works its all good.

    Pat
  • ooo
    ooo Member Posts: 105
    #6
    sunshine_64 said:

    sometimes just hanging by a thread
    Thanks some much for the replies--I am pretty sure the oncologist is going to keep me on erbitux. And, yes, I read the research on how the reactions vary by country and/or region (could it be different brands, formulas?) Odd. I am waiting for the rash, hoping it will arrive, as some of the research suggests the rash is correlated with effectiveness of the drug.

    It is amazing how much research we all have to do to keep on top of what questions need to be asked, what soap to use, no makeup, etc. I have my first radiation treatment tomorrow (and yes, I found that discussion board very useful also). This website is a great find and has already been a great comfort to me.

    Thanks very much to you all.

    Hi Sunshine,
    I'm not taking
    Hi Sunshine,

    I'm not taking Erbitux, but I discussed the possibility to use it with my doctors. One of them mentioned that many people (~20%) had allergic reactions to Erbitux in Kentucky where he was working in the past, whereas almost none has similar reactions in Boston where he's working now. He said that some plants' pollen are thought to predispose people to such allergic reactions.

    I haven't found articles confirming this (haven't really looked that hard..) but this article mentions pollen as a possible cause of regional differences in the reaction to Erbitux: http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/25/24/3644.long

    Dre.

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