Erbitux "half-life"?

blackswampboy
blackswampboy Member Posts: 341
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
just curious...how long the erbitux inhibitor stays in the body and continues to do what it does.
I had eight weekly infusions, the last one on July 3. while still in treatment, had the typical rash on chest and face. but the rash was much better by the time of the final infusion. it was really never painful, just hideous. ;-)

but roughly two weeks after the last infusion...middle of July...the rash came back full-bore on my throat, corresponding roughly to the location of the carcinoma. it is red, itchy, and painful, with lots of sloughing off of skin debris. (there is also now again some on my forehead, but it is not painful up there.)

steroid cream (betamethasone dipropionate) mostly takes care of the symptoms, not a big deal.
just amazed that this is happening, weeks after end of treatment.
and yes, I'm taking the existence of rash on location of carinoma as indicator that the erbitux is working.
next appointment with chemo oncologist is on monday, I'll see what he has to say.

Comments

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    #2
    erbitux
    Hi blackswampboy,

    Hey a fellow Erbitux user, welcome to the club.

    I also had the one loading dose followed by the seven normal doses. My whole torso broke out with pimple like rash including my face. At 17 weeks post I still have rash down the left and right sides of my back with a little sprinkled in the middle of my back (so I can’t scratch). My face is actually pretty clean, considering how many explosive pimples I had. It was like being a teenager times 10. I remember reading that the Erbitux does not last long, but can not find that information right now. Some of the rash running down the sides of my back does turn into full fledged pimples on occasion but that is the worst I get.

    Good Luck!

    Best,

    Matt
  • blackswampboy
    blackswampboy Member Posts: 341
    #3
    CivilMatt said:

    erbitux
    Hi blackswampboy,

    Hey a fellow Erbitux user, welcome to the club.

    I also had the one loading dose followed by the seven normal doses. My whole torso broke out with pimple like rash including my face. At 17 weeks post I still have rash down the left and right sides of my back with a little sprinkled in the middle of my back (so I can’t scratch). My face is actually pretty clean, considering how many explosive pimples I had. It was like being a teenager times 10. I remember reading that the Erbitux does not last long, but can not find that information right now. Some of the rash running down the sides of my back does turn into full fledged pimples on occasion but that is the worst I get.

    Good Luck!

    Best,

    Matt

    gracias
    hey man, thanks!
    sorry to hear you're reliving pimply teen years.
    wow, I thought the rash faded with the erbitux. 17 weeks, yikes!

    yah, I got into some research study: 50% of patients got rads with cisplatin, 50% got rads with erbitux instead. from what I hear about platinum, glad to be in the erbitux camp. now just gotta find out if it works or not. ;-)

    wish I'd found these boards while I was still in treatment, woulda helped.
    cheers!
  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    #4
    blackswampboy said:

    gracias
    hey man, thanks!
    sorry to hear you're reliving pimply teen years.
    wow, I thought the rash faded with the erbitux. 17 weeks, yikes!

    yah, I got into some research study: 50% of patients got rads with cisplatin, 50% got rads with erbitux instead. from what I hear about platinum, glad to be in the erbitux camp. now just gotta find out if it works or not. ;-)

    wish I'd found these boards while I was still in treatment, woulda helped.
    cheers!

    erbitux = rash
    Blackswampboy,

    There is great controversy about which chemo treatment is best. Studies and statistics are interesting but I choose to avoid them because of the negative aspects. From what I’ve read on here, either Cisplatin or Erbitux can each kick the s_ _ _ out of you and both are known to work. Believe me, with my whole heart I pray that this treatment worked and worked for all of us.

    By the way, I never got and abundance of rash at the sites on the neck and throat which would correspond to the cancer locations. The rash is almost completely gone from my chest and stomach areas.

    If Tim6003 chimes in, his story is far more graphic than mine.

    Best,

    Matt
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #5
    Blood Work...
    I didn't hae Erbitux, but I did have Cisplatin, Taxotere, 5FU and Carboplatin along with seven weeks of the which was concurrent.

    It took nearly a year fot all of my bloodwork to fall back into normal ranges.

    BTW, welcome to the group....

    Best,
    John
  • Tim6003
    Tim6003 Member Posts: 1,514 Member
    #6
    Skiffin16 said:

    Blood Work...
    I didn't hae Erbitux, but I did have Cisplatin, Taxotere, 5FU and Carboplatin along with seven weeks of the which was concurrent.

    It took nearly a year fot all of my bloodwork to fall back into normal ranges.

    BTW, welcome to the group....

    Best,
    John

    Hi Blackswap...
    Oh yeah...I can sure tell you about Erbitux...lol...my wife thought I was "melting" away...my oncologist (after the fact of course) told me I was one of the worst reactions he had evern seen to Eribtux...and boy was it ever painful to me. From the top of my down to to my lower back I was COVERED in ever square cm with HUGE whitehead looking pimples and swollen like a blowfish :) It was bad, really bad and very painful.

    The the radiation took over and and "fried" the bejeez out of my neck ....

    ..not to sound like "poor me" ...but I think I had it rough on both ends ..but if that's waht it took to take care of the cancer I was all for it...

    The oncologist (again, well after the tx) said "you looked like hamburger meat inside and out Tim" ...he was saying that bc of my question on whether the Eribtux was the best treatment ...and he was expalining that the "reaction" is what they like to see bc it generally means the Erbitx is working and doing what it is meant to do.

    I would not go out in public without protest bc folks would stare and I felt I was embarrassing my family...but my wife insisted we go and and by golly she stuck by me and held my hand like I was Mr. America ... (love her like no other) ..and my daughter did too...(lol..the boys, ages 2-11 kept asking "why is everybody staring at Daddy...lol)

    Welcome to the club ..sorry you have to be here.

    Keep us posted.

    Best,
    Tim
  • blackswampboy
    blackswampboy Member Posts: 341
    #7
    Tim6003 said:

    Hi Blackswap...
    Oh yeah...I can sure tell you about Erbitux...lol...my wife thought I was "melting" away...my oncologist (after the fact of course) told me I was one of the worst reactions he had evern seen to Eribtux...and boy was it ever painful to me. From the top of my down to to my lower back I was COVERED in ever square cm with HUGE whitehead looking pimples and swollen like a blowfish :) It was bad, really bad and very painful.

    The the radiation took over and and "fried" the bejeez out of my neck ....

    ..not to sound like "poor me" ...but I think I had it rough on both ends ..but if that's waht it took to take care of the cancer I was all for it...

    The oncologist (again, well after the tx) said "you looked like hamburger meat inside and out Tim" ...he was saying that bc of my question on whether the Eribtux was the best treatment ...and he was expalining that the "reaction" is what they like to see bc it generally means the Erbitx is working and doing what it is meant to do.

    I would not go out in public without protest bc folks would stare and I felt I was embarrassing my family...but my wife insisted we go and and by golly she stuck by me and held my hand like I was Mr. America ... (love her like no other) ..and my daughter did too...(lol..the boys, ages 2-11 kept asking "why is everybody staring at Daddy...lol)

    Welcome to the club ..sorry you have to be here.

    Keep us posted.

    Best,
    Tim

    ouch
    so your body really didn't like those erbitux mouse antibodies--at least you can take that as a sign of your 100% humanity. ;-)

    for the record, my onc gave me benadryl infusions (which I hated) with every erbitux treatment, and minocycline. got him to cut the benadryl in half when it looked like I wasn't allergic to erbitux.
    oh, another side-effect from erbitux: both of my middle fingernails developed gruesome infections. again, after treatments ended.

    fine story of your family's love and support. that's the good stuff.
  • blackswampboy
    blackswampboy Member Posts: 341
    #8
    Skiffin16 said:

    Blood Work...
    I didn't hae Erbitux, but I did have Cisplatin, Taxotere, 5FU and Carboplatin along with seven weeks of the which was concurrent.

    It took nearly a year fot all of my bloodwork to fall back into normal ranges.

    BTW, welcome to the group....

    Best,
    John

    cheers John
    I see. a nurse had told me it passed from the body in a week--apparently erroneously.
    as far as I'm concerned...the longer it stays with me, the better. even with side effects, I want my money's worth. keep fighting that C.
  • ToBeGolden
    ToBeGolden Member Posts: 695
    #9
    Erbitux Half Life
    To answer your question, I believe that the Erbitux half life is 112 hours (4.6 days). Data from "DalyMed" at the National Library of Medicine / National Institutes of Health.

    See:
    http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/lookup.cfm?setid=8bc6397e-4bd8-4d37-a007-a327e4da34d9#nlm34090-1

    I am also an Erbitux survivor. I got it along with Cisplatin and Radiation. However, I really did not know how "down" I felt until about 4 months after treatment. Only then, did I get some "normal" amount of energy back. Rick.
  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    #10
    hair growth
    Blackswampboy,

    I just got home from a trip to my parents and while driving I thought of another side effect from the Erbitux. It has made my eyelashes grow. Every time I driver the car now I try to move my eyelashes out of the way. It also made my eye brows, the hair on my arms and stomach grow. The radiation won the hair contest on my neck. Hair growth is one of the noted side effects at least on Oregon Erbitux.

    Best,

    Matt
  • blackswampboy
    blackswampboy Member Posts: 341
    #11
    ToBeGolden said:

    Erbitux Half Life
    To answer your question, I believe that the Erbitux half life is 112 hours (4.6 days). Data from "DalyMed" at the National Library of Medicine / National Institutes of Health.

    See:
    http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/lookup.cfm?setid=8bc6397e-4bd8-4d37-a007-a327e4da34d9#nlm34090-1

    I am also an Erbitux survivor. I got it along with Cisplatin and Radiation. However, I really did not know how "down" I felt until about 4 months after treatment. Only then, did I get some "normal" amount of energy back. Rick.

    thanks Rick
    bingo, that's it. fascinating read, the parts I can understand. ;-)

    "Acneiform rash usually developed within the first two weeks of therapy and resolved in a majority of the patients after cessation of treatment, although in nearly half, the event continued beyond 28 days."

    so apparently there is no simple correspondence between half-life and rash (and finger infections). tomorrow is 21 days after cessation for me, and the rash has made a comeback and is still going strong. my fingertips are still rotting from staph infection. go figure.
  • blackswampboy
    blackswampboy Member Posts: 341
    #12
    CivilMatt said:

    hair growth
    Blackswampboy,

    I just got home from a trip to my parents and while driving I thought of another side effect from the Erbitux. It has made my eyelashes grow. Every time I driver the car now I try to move my eyelashes out of the way. It also made my eye brows, the hair on my arms and stomach grow. The radiation won the hair contest on my neck. Hair growth is one of the noted side effects at least on Oregon Erbitux.

    Best,

    Matt

    let's hope it's Oregon Erbitux
    ya'll have got a more virulent formula out there. or maybe you're just naturally hairier.
    the radiation won the contest with my beard, and longer eyelashes won't make me feel better about that.
  • blackswampboy
    blackswampboy Member Posts: 341
    #13
    blame the radiation
    ok, for the record... chemo oncologist says the rash is not the erbitux, but late radiation side-effect.

    thanks to all, and good health!
  • Billie67
    Billie67 Member Posts: 898
    #14
    blackswampboy said:

    blame the radiation
    ok, for the record... chemo oncologist says the rash is not the erbitux, but late radiation side-effect.

    thanks to all, and good health!

    Me too
    I had erbitux too just like CivilMatt and I broke out the first couple of times and then it cleared up. Well with the help of doxycyline and some creams. My lashes didn't grow :-( for a girl that'd be a plus but my eyebrows did. The one thing I seem to have is dry peeling skin all over my body which started about a week after erbitux was complete. I'm 5 weeks out from rads now too and nobody seems to know what that is caused by. Maybe someone on here can help???
    Billie

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