Erbitux vs Cisplatin help please

jkinobay
jkinobay Member Posts: 298 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

Have a friend about to start treatments. His chemo will be weekly Erbitux. I had Cisplatin and do not know anything about Erbitux. Can someone please give us a brief comparison?   Side effects?   Hair loss?  Etc?  Thanks. JK

Comments

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    edited January 2017 #2
    erbitux

    jkinobay,

    Erbitux is a targeted therapy that targets and binds to the epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) on the surface of the cell. EGFR is found on the surface of many normal and cancer cells.  By binding to these receptors, Erbitux blocks an important pathway that promotes cell division this results in inhibition of cell growth and apoptosis (cell suicide).

    For me the side effects of using Erbitux were a very healthy acne like rash over my torso and face.  My fingers cracked, my eyelashes and eyebrows grew and I lost 1 big toe nail.  Whether it played a part or not I got neck burn quite bad.  You go through an initial loading dose to check for negative reactions, then 7 weekly doses, which you get at the infusion center just like platinum based chemo. It generally does not cause hair loss or hearing loss.

    Matt

     

  • dw195
    dw195 Member Posts: 43 Member
    edited January 2017 #3
    Erbitux

    I'm currently taking Erbitux weekly plus daily radiation for Tonsil and BOT cancer. So far Erbitux has caused a slight rash and acne on my face and chest, I've had two sessions so far - the loading dose and the general weekly dose. Other than the rash and acne I don't have any other reaction as of yet. We'll see with 5 more chemo days to go.

    Don

  • jkinobay
    jkinobay Member Posts: 298 Member
    edited January 2017 #4
    Thanks to both of you. Very

    Thanks to both of you. Very helpful. I'll pass this along to him. JK

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