To chemo or not to chemo that is the question

Xeloda tx alone papers are not the same as xeloda+cimetidine tx or xeloda+cimetidine+PSK++++ etc tx by a long shot.  I don't think you will find clinical trials that exactly match your combined treatment choices. 

In terms of OS for curatively resected patients, starting from ca stage III, Japanese patients doing daily low dose oral chemo (with UFT) clearly did better with 2 years chemo than one year or 6 months chemo.  

Other Japanese papers suggest that recurrence odds, overall survival, and oral chemo+cimetidine success are likely strongly controlled by a combination of biological factors identified with the CSLEX1 and CA19-9 tissue biomarkers. This identified group is the majority of advanced CRC patients and a highly dominant percentage of those who would recur and die without chemo+cimetidine treatment. A number of Japanese researchers consider these markers a quantitative marker pair.  The closest we could do easily and soonest was to try to estimate this group's identificaton based on peak CEA and CA19-9 serum markers where their result agreed for my wife, after some time and effort to get both tissue markers done.  After that (++), chemo+cimetidine decisions were a no brainer for her although her situation is different.   

i was faced with the same decision After my Liver Ablation back in April. I too would have done the Chemo if my Oncologist had suggested it, but after consulting with his colleagues at UCSF he decided to wait and see if my CEA - a good indicator for me - dropped, which it did, so no Chemo for me.

I know our Oncs don't want to overload us with poison, and if you have a good working relationship with your Onc, then I wovule do what he suggests. 

I am so glad that you are recovering so well from your resection. 

Good luck!

sue - Trubrit

that "mop up" chemo is beginning to be viewed as less helpful by many docs.  Of course, he's the cut it out guy, so maybe have to take it with a grain of salt!  I hope your doctors will be able to give you a better sense of what path to take...it's a hard choice.

.. so it's hard to give advice to others.  I will say that after my one lung met two years after my initial stageIIIC rectal diagnosis with surgery/chemo/radiation/chemo, my oncologist and I both agreed not to do mop up chemo for the lung met.  I reviewed NCCN guidelines, this seems to be the trend for this situation (one met following initial diagnosis/treatment).  I'm still here

Annabelle41415 said:

Mop Up Chemo

If it gave me one ounce of prevention from future disease I'd take it and I'd do it all over again because they said that is what my adjuvent chem would be "mop up."  I'd be thinking the "what if" but you have to think about "what if" for another reason.  Its up to you and your tolerance for treatment and what you feel you can handle and what you feel you can live by with diet and exercise.  For me, I'd always been a healthy eater and always exercised so when they told me it wasn't anything that I'd done wrong it was something I'd felt was correct but many on this board feel differently about diet so I'm not saying they are right or I'm right it has to be what is right for you. Be sure of your decision and never look back.  You may want to question it but you will say to yourself "this is what is right for me".

Kim 

I wish I inew in 2008, what I know now. I would have tried the vegan diet. 3 years of chemo with no change to my outcome. I would have fought while my immune system was intact, then if it didn't work, I would have done chemo. But that's me.  

I would eliminate the "what ifs" and take the chemo.

*hugs*

Gail

JanJan63 said:

I've had two mop up chemo

I've had two mop up chemo treatments now and the side effects are much worse after just the second treatment. I don't want to continue. Am I right in thinking that doing chemo now makes it less effective if I need it later? Or am I reading things wrong?

My oncologist thinks I 'might as well' do it but doesn't know if it'll help at all or if i even need it. I had three lymph nodes involved and a tear in my colon and am stage three.

I've read conflicting info (like most info on the web).  I'm tired of feeling like crap and am taking a break from chemo through the holidays.  My onc wanted to discuss it with me today after emailing him.  He said he'd prefer to stay in front of it while numbers look good.  He indicated his experience is that when stopping chemo, it comes back and is more resistant to chemo (at least with my case of not having surgery).  I had read that keeping on chemo it typically comes back as well resistant, so who really knows...  We're all different and respond differently.  It seems it can come back resistant to the first line treatment either way.  I personally am choosing to drop the 5FU pump, but am, going to still go in and get Avastin every 3 weeks to see how that works alone For the rest of the year.

i hope you feel better soon.