Clinical Trials

I am set to do pre trial testing for the NCI Match trial. It is 24 arms - 22 of which are targeted chemo and 2 are immunotherapies - all depends on what mutation they find. I have the PIK3 ( and others ) but that is the one that matches one of the arms in this trial. About 20% are rejected after pre-trial testing for one reason or another. I was rejected after they thought I had a second primary cancer in the breast. Turns out it was metastatic uterine after the lumpectomy so now I am back in line for the trial. I wont start pretrial testing until December and if I make it thru all those hoops, wont start treatment in the trial until Feb. Currently, I am on Lynparza ( Olaparib ) - it's also a targeted chemo for the brca2 mutation. It's an oral chemo twice a day. I do not have the right mutation for ketruda I guess. I am also carboplatin resistant and have been on 9 different chemos in nearly 2 years. I treated for 8 rounds of carbo/taxol before a reaction. I had a clear looking scan after 6 rounds, but it came roaring back after 8 weeks. I am, and have been from the beginning, serous adenocarcinoma stage 4 - dx Jan 2015.

They tell me that serous is most similar to ovarian cancer in behavior and response to treatment. Look up the NCI Match trial and ask your drs if their hospital is participating - it's a national study. I hope that helps! Keep us posted! 

Billie

This is a group no one wants to belong to, but we are so glad you found us.  I am on Keytruda and I am having good results so far.  i asked about Opdivo first when I saw that a couple of ladies here were trying that.  My oncologist suggested we try Keytruda first because it is given every three weeks where Obdivo is given every two weeks.  He did all the leg work to get me approved under a compassionate use program.   I had kind of reached a dead end with chemo.  So I am so thankful that I am getting this chance.  I was on Taxol/carbo for about 17 rounds when I,had a reaction to,the,carbo. We went to Doxil.  7 round of that and it worked on small tumors and bigger ones grow.  One,intwined itself between my small intestines.  Open bowel resection.. we went back to,the Taxol/carbo with a,desensitizing program for  carbo.  It was working slowly until I had another reaction to the carbo.  We tried Topotecan next with no results.  Tried Avastin which was a,genomic match for me.  It was working quite well, but I had one,of the.rarer side effects after two rounds... A heart attack..  It was after I healed from that, and we had not many choices for chemo left, that we decided to try and get,permission to,use Keytruda.

i live in a rural area and travel an hour,to,my Cancer center and it is not in a very large city either.  I have a doctor that is,very willing to try new things.  It is given just like chemo, except no pre-meds and it only lasts 1/2 hour for the,actual infusion.  So far I have had almost no,side effects.

Hugs and prayers, Lou Ann

KTMay, so sorry about your recurrence. My frontline chemo was Ifosfamide/Mesna/Taxol. Ifosfamide (brand name, Ifex) is an older type of chemo. It's known to damage bladders so they give the Mesna to counteract that side effect. My dx was stage 1b, grade 3 uterine carcinosarcoma and I've been NED since June 2016. I hope this information is helpful to you and that your medical team is able to develop a treatment plan that can beat back this beast. Kim

KTMay said:

Another questions re managing pelvic pain

As I learn and decide next treatment options over the next couple weeks, I am trying to manage constant pelvic pain especially on left side and around to middle of the back and sometimes underneath rib cage in abdomen area. I have been "clean" of chemo since September and no radiation took place. I am using Advil according to dosage but wondered if any of you have had to manage constant aching betweeen therapies which without taking Advil lays me flat on my back.  

Have you reported that pain to your medical team? They may want to do a scan of that area to figure out whether the pain is related to your diagnosis. If it were me, I would definitely let them know and then take it from there if it's found to not be related. Kim