Folfiri + avastin didnt work

bala07
bala07 Member Posts: 25
in Colorectal Cancer #1

We started second line chemo - Folfiri + avastin for my mom's recurrence of nodes in pelvis, in March. We took 6 cycles (each cycle at every 3 weeks interval because of her counts) and we were monitoring CEA throughout. From 52 it came down to 6 but after 6th cycle it went to 15 and we went for a pet scan. The scan showed progression of disease from stable pelvis nodes to nodules in both lungs. Our onc himself dint expect this and said its difficult to digest, in her case probably the drugs dint work and need to try erbitux based regimen.

Is this quite unusual that while on treatment the disease progresses and avastin based chemo not working? Any suggestions for other options?

Thanks a lot for the inputs
Bala
Son of mom,
May2011 - LAR for rectal tumour
stage3c
June - Nov 2011 - Radiation + chemo(FOLFOX)

Comments

  • LivinginNH
    LivinginNH Member Posts: 1,456 Member
    #2
    Avastin

    Hi Bala,

    No...unfortunately, it's not really that unusual.  My Rick did Folfox first, and after it stopped working he moved onto Folfiri + Avastin.  The doctor was pretty upfront about its long term effectiveness, stating that it usually only works for about a year.  Unfortunately, it only worked for a few months, then his tumors started spreading once again.  He didn't have the correct Kras gene, so he wasn't able to take Eributix like your mom.  I wish her success on her next chemo regimen with the Eributix - it has helped many people on this board live happy long lives.

    All my best,

    Cynthia

  • tanstaafl
    tanstaafl Member Posts: 1,313 Member
    #3
    ADAPTable?

    My wife's chemo is different, a daily oral 5FU drug + lots of things, but adding 300-400 mg/day of celebrex to the old formula has stopped/reduced minor  CEA and the CA19-9 rises two or three times now.  We may be chasing 1-2 mets.  

    In the US, ADAPT = xeloda + celecoxib, a trial by Dr Edward Lin.  Life Extension Foundation has cancer and colorectal articles that discuss celecoxib and some of those other things, too.  You would need a doctor that can venture outside the ASCO/NCCN box to support you.

  • janderson1964
    janderson1964 Member Posts: 2,215 Member
    #4
    tanstaafl said:

    ADAPTable?

    My wife's chemo is different, a daily oral 5FU drug + lots of things, but adding 300-400 mg/day of celebrex to the old formula has stopped/reduced minor  CEA and the CA19-9 rises two or three times now.  We may be chasing 1-2 mets.  

    In the US, ADAPT = xeloda + celecoxib, a trial by Dr Edward Lin.  Life Extension Foundation has cancer and colorectal articles that discuss celecoxib and some of those other things, too.  You would need a doctor that can venture outside the ASCO/NCCN box to support you.

    An open minded onc is key. I

    An open minded onc is key. I am in Seattle jow and see Dr Lin tomorrow. He will work with my onc in Virginia who has already given me a script for celebrex an xeloda.

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