Maintence Chemo options: Xeloda vs. 5FU?

refusetolose
refusetolose Member Posts: 10
in Colorectal Cancer #1

Mike's last scheduled treatment is on Tuesday. Due to the study he is partaking in, we will be moving to maintence chemo. He is currently taking Avastin, Leucovorin, Oxailiplatin, Irinotecan, and 5FU pump for 48 hours. For maintence chemo, he has the option of doing Avastin, Leucovorin, and 5FU pump every two weeks or Avastin and Xeloda every three weeks. He will take Xeloda pills twice a day for two weeks and have one week off. I know Mike handles the first option very well, but he likes the idea of not have a pump and not having our extremely long days in the hospital getting the chemo treatments. Does anyone have more information about Xeloda pills? Side effects and outcomes? Is one of the options a better choice? Any suggestions would be helpful! Thank you so much! 

Comments

  • Trapbear
    Trapbear Member Posts: 108 Member
    #2
    Everyone is different, but my

    Everyone is different, but my husband much preferred the 5FU, xeloda gave him much more nausea.  Maybe try for one cycle and then switch to 5FU.  Also, my husband does a three week maintenance cycle, they just up the dose of Avastin to cover three weeks.  Good luck!

    Bill

  • kennyt
    kennyt Member Posts: 110
    #3
    I'm on 4000mg xeloda 14days

    I'm on 4000mg xeloda 14days on 7 days off with minimal side effects if any. I can't see myself wearing that pump unless I had no choice.

  • Nana b
    Nana b Member Posts: 3,030 Member
    #4
    I stayed on the 5FU pump. 

    I stayed on the 5FU pump.  XELODA is good but it turned my hands and feet purple and they start to crack.  I also got kidney stones becuase they dhydrated me.    But it was good not having to go in for the pump.   I think I would stay on what I  knew was working, and leave the Xeloda as an option for later.

     

     

  • lp1964
    lp1964 Member Posts: 1,239 Member
    #5
    Dear Friend,

    I have had both and they have pros and cons. The pill is obviously more convenient, but tend to cause more severe hands and foot syndrome. 

    Good luck with your treatment.

    Laz

  • Dumbfounded
    Dumbfounded Member Posts: 25
    #6
    xeloda pills

    I had a severe allergic reaction to oxiliplatin so I went with the xeloda pills 2 weeks on 1 week off. It was very convenient not to have to mess with a pump. The only reaction I had was the hand/foot syndrome. Everyone is different in their own way. Choose what you think is best for you.

  • refusetolose
    refusetolose Member Posts: 10
    #7
    Thank you

    Thank you so much for the comments! Mike has decided to try the pills. We start them in two weeks!

  • lp1964
    lp1964 Member Posts: 1,239 Member
    #8
    refusetolose said:

    Thank you

    Thank you so much for the comments! Mike has decided to try the pills. We start them in two weeks!

    How much is he gonna take?

    Make sure he starts to moisterize his hands and feet like a week before. These pills can really tear them up. Also take it right after food.

    Laz

  • tanstaafl
    tanstaafl Member Posts: 1,313 Member
    #9
    metronomic, CAM

    Some here have had high quality of life and some therapeutic success with daily, lower dose, oral chemo combined with less US maimstream items, things like PSK, aspirin, EGCG, quercetin, milk thistle coQ10, high dose vitamins C, D3 and B6, among other CAM possibilities.  Metformin, vitamin K2/K3, and celecoxib are trickier but important possibilities too.

  • refusetolose
    refusetolose Member Posts: 10
    #10
    Thank you

    Thank you for the advice! We were told to make sure to keep his hands and feet moisturized, but I did not think about starting it early. We do not know how much he will be taking yet. We talked with a raidiation doctor on Monday about some possible spots on the pelvic bone, but the radiologist did not want to start yet. He said that he did not want to start radiation until the chemo stopped working, which is not an answer any of us wanted to hear. Mike's oncologist was even unhappy about it! Since Mike is so young and handling the chemo very well, his oncologist wants to be more aggressive with his treatments. He wants to combined the radiation with the maintence chemo so we can do surgery and cut out the big tumor. He got scans done on Monday as well and the one liver lesion he had left shrunk so small they have a hard time seeing it. They said it is 4 mm small! 

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