Avastin or Erbitux

lostsolost
lostsolost Member Posts: 21
in Colorectal Cancer #1

please help... long story some what short is my stage 3c colon cancer is now stage 4. finished first round of chemo (5FU+oxiliplatin) 3/28/16, re-scanned in April and found it in my liver. Tumor board recommended surgery, met with surgeon and she said i was not a good candidate because my tumors formed while i was on chemo. I have an appointment with my oncologist this friday (6/10) to discuss treatment. She had mentioned folfiri in combination with either avastin or erbitux. i'm just worried about the side effects and wondering what others have experienced while on either. And maybe if anybody recommended one over the other. i don't know, i just need some kind of guidance/assurance/support

Comments

  • zx10guy
    zx10guy Member Posts: 273 Member
    edited June 2016 #2
    Have you had any genetic

    Have you had any genetic testing on your tumors to determine if you're KRAS wild or mutant?  This is important as if you're KRAS mutant, Erbitux will not work for you.  From my readings, Erbitux attempts to block receptors on tumor cells which signal cell division...hence growth of the tumor.

    Avastin acts differently as it attempts to cut off blood supply to the tumor by preventing growth of new blood vessels.

  • Trubrit
    Trubrit Member Posts: 5,804 Member
    #3
    Second opinion

    A second opinion from another surgeon wouldn't go amiss.  

    I had a liver tumour after my chemo & radiation.  They thought it was a hemangeoma at first as it stayed the same size while I was on the chemo, but grew when I finished. I had mine ablated (thermal) two years ago with no follow-up chemo, and so far so good. 

    Others here can give you advice on the meds.

    SUE

  • zx10guy
    zx10guy Member Posts: 273 Member
    edited June 2016 #4
    I agree with Sue that a

    I agree with Sue that a second opinion may be prudent.

    Just curious, has a PET been ordered to verify metabolic activity of the liver lesion?

  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #5
    Second Opinion and Avastin

    I've been treated with both drugs at various times. Avastin shrunk my liver tumors so I could be operated on. I had minimal side effects. I'm pretty sure it just thinned my blood. Erbitux very often comes with a nasty rash but it was effective for me at one point. I certainly don't miss that drug...

    DO get a second opnion.

  • lostsolost
    lostsolost Member Posts: 21
    edited June 2016 #6
    zx10guy said:

    Have you had any genetic

    Have you had any genetic testing on your tumors to determine if you're KRAS wild or mutant?  This is important as if you're KRAS mutant, Erbitux will not work for you.  From my readings, Erbitux attempts to block receptors on tumor cells which signal cell division...hence growth of the tumor.

    Avastin acts differently as it attempts to cut off blood supply to the tumor by preventing growth of new blood vessels.

    yes i did. it's wild

    yes i did. it's wild

  • lostsolost
    lostsolost Member Posts: 21
    #7
    zx10guy said:

    I agree with Sue that a

    I agree with Sue that a second opinion may be prudent.

    Just curious, has a PET been ordered to verify metabolic activity of the liver lesion?

    I had a pet and mri prior to

    I had a pet and mri prior to the tumor board reviewing my case. 2 light up and the 3rd they said didn't and its too small to charecterize. the 2 are 1.7cm right sided and the other 1.5 inward

  • lostsolost
    lostsolost Member Posts: 21
    #8
    Trubrit said:

    Second opinion

    A second opinion from another surgeon wouldn't go amiss.  

    I had a liver tumour after my chemo & radiation.  They thought it was a hemangeoma at first as it stayed the same size while I was on the chemo, but grew when I finished. I had mine ablated (thermal) two years ago with no follow-up chemo, and so far so good. 

    Others here can give you advice on the meds.

    SUE

    ok, thank you

    ok, thank you

  • lostsolost
    lostsolost Member Posts: 21
    #9
    PhillieG said:

    Second Opinion and Avastin

    I've been treated with both drugs at various times. Avastin shrunk my liver tumors so I could be operated on. I had minimal side effects. I'm pretty sure it just thinned my blood. Erbitux very often comes with a nasty rash but it was effective for me at one point. I certainly don't miss that drug...

    DO get a second opnion.

    Honestly i am worried about

    Honestly i am worried about the erbitux side effects and that it seems there aren't many more options. Thank you for your response

  • SilentRenegade
    SilentRenegade Member Posts: 123
    #10
    I have no experience with

    I have no experience with Erbitux because my dad has a KRAS mutation, not wild-type. However, he was on Avastin and ended up having severe GI bleeding that required a couple of blood transfusions. This is a risk of a couple therapies like this, but is considered extremely rare. 

  • traci43
    traci43 Member Posts: 773 Member
    #11
    avastin side effects

    Ive had Avastin with no side effects, although my blood pressure rose slightly, but still well within normal ranges.  I'm KRAS mutant so no Erubitux for me.

  • lizard44
    lizard44 Member Posts: 409 Member
    edited June 2016 #12
    Avastin and Erbitux

    I had Avastin in combination with Folfox and my liver tumor shrank.  It grew again while I was getting radiation and 5-FU to shrink the rectal tumor, and now I'm on Erbitux plus Irinotecan to  try to shrink the liver tumor again. I didn't have any of the expected side-effects  with  Avastin.  I've had five Erbitux/Irinotecan treatments but have had the  skin problems  Phillie mentioned. The rash is not fun at all but it's bearable.   We won't know how well the  Erbitux has worked until I get a scan after the next (sixth) treatment.

  • MS2014
    MS2014 Member Posts: 58
    #13
    Avastin +FOLFOX

    My mother was in avastin+FOLFOX and tumors shrank and had a hepatic resection. Side effects were not good but managable first and second round, after that no side effects for FOLFOX and avastin just some bloody nose from time to time but nothing important. Hope this helps

  • lostsolost
    lostsolost Member Posts: 21
    #14
    Folfiri+Avastin

    My dr decided on avastin. I start next monday. Will be on my 3rd session when they will re-scan and the surgeon will evalute. If tumors are responding she said i'm looking at surgery beginning of September. Thank you to everyone for responding. 

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