maintenance chemotherapy

ladyjogger31
ladyjogger31 Member Posts: 289
edited March 2014 in Ovarian Cancer #1
Hi, I have only been on this board since March. I have stage 111c and am getting my 4th treatment of carbo/taxol plus a clinical trial of avastin/placebo on June 16th. I have 4 more to go. My doctor had suggested a maintenance program after I finish all 8 treatments of chemo for 1 year. Has anyone done this and had good success. I am a little nervous. Any advise would be helpful.
Hugs and Prayers to all you...
Thanks Terry

Comments

  • kris43
    kris43 Member Posts: 275
    #2
    Hi Terry -

    I had stage IIIC cancer also, diagnosed last July, have been in clinical remission since December. I did 4 rounds of IV Carbo/Taxotere and 2 rounds of IV Taxotere/IP Cisplatin. My onocologist did not suggest maintenance chemo. Have you had surgery yet? I would sit down with my doctor and have them go over the pro's and cons of why they want you to do the maintenance stuff. I was eligible for the avastin trial but decided against it because I think you had to do chemo for a year and I just couldn't wrap my head around 6 rounds let alone a year. Do you think this could be part of it? How are your numbers doing? Are you doing well on the chemo you've been receiving so far?

    My best to you and I'll be interested to hear what the others have to offer re: advice. Take good care.

    Kris
  • ladyjogger31
    ladyjogger31 Member Posts: 289
    #3
    Hi Kris,
    I had surgery Feb.29th. My surgeon said he had got 90% of the cancer. My Chemo is going well. My CA-125 after surgery was 7,222 and just having 2 chemos my CA-125 dropped down to 635.
    Hugs and Prayers to all you...
    Thanks Terry
  • saundra
    saundra Member Posts: 1,370 Member
    #4
    Hi, Terry. I just took my 8th dose of maintenance Taxol (135 mg.) today. I have had a clear CT Scan, physical exam, and CA-125's under 8 since November. I had a ct-scan the 4th and will get the results on the 11th. I was told that the maintenance treatment has had only one study and that showed an average of 10 additional months of remission. I am Stage IV and tolerate chemo without too much of the bad side effects so I decided to go for it. I willl post my results next week. You can e-mail me by clicking on the envelope below this posting if you have any other questions. I had 9 doses of the Taxol/Carbo,four before surgery and 5 after before switching to the lower dose of Taxol. ((HUGS)) and prayers to you...Saundra
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #5
    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • Judy1950
    Judy1950 Member Posts: 2
    #6
    saundra said:

    Hi, Terry. I just took my 8th dose of maintenance Taxol (135 mg.) today. I have had a clear CT Scan, physical exam, and CA-125's under 8 since November. I had a ct-scan the 4th and will get the results on the 11th. I was told that the maintenance treatment has had only one study and that showed an average of 10 additional months of remission. I am Stage IV and tolerate chemo without too much of the bad side effects so I decided to go for it. I willl post my results next week. You can e-mail me by clicking on the envelope below this posting if you have any other questions. I had 9 doses of the Taxol/Carbo,four before surgery and 5 after before switching to the lower dose of Taxol. ((HUGS)) and prayers to you...Saundra

    maintenance chemo
    Hi! I read your comment on the message board. How are you doing now? Has the maintenance chemo helped?

    My history is under Judy1950, so I won't tell the whole thing here. But I've been dealing with chemo and surgeries from 1996. I was stage IV at that time, although not officially. I got up and going, although without full strength.

    My last recurrence and chemo was in 2007. I've wondered about maintenance chemo as a preventive measure.

    Do you feel you have learned a lot about yourself? I feel like I'm on a spiritual adventure, which is although, not always pleasant, always interesting. It's the lemonade, not the sour lemon idea, I guess.

    Would you share your experiences? You can contact me within the system, or at my websit, Uthicaatherdesk.vpweb.com. Thanks. Judy1950
  • saundra
    saundra Member Posts: 1,370 Member
    #7
    Maintenance
    I am on my 10th out of 12 maintenance doses of Taxol. It is a lower dose than the original eight of Taxol and Carbo which brought me to "no evidence of disease". My main complaint is fatigue. I take it every four weeks and so I do have recovery between. I was told there is only one study, and it showed an average of 10 more months of remission. I was offered this maintenance treatment because I tolerated the big doses so well with little lasting side effects. I am Stage IV. Hope this helps. Saundra
  • galinva
    galinva Member Posts: 2
    #8
    Follow up chemo
    What type of maintence are they suggesting? I was stage 1C last Oct. and I was given 6 rounds of Carbo/Taxetere (Sp?). I was then placed on 6 months of chemo pills Hexalin and Xeloda and will finish them up next week (Praise the Lord!). For me the pills had few side effects other than being a hassle to remember taking them all.

    Best Wishes
    Phyllis
  • NancyC
    NancyC Member Posts: 10
    #9
    galinva said:

    Follow up chemo
    What type of maintence are they suggesting? I was stage 1C last Oct. and I was given 6 rounds of Carbo/Taxetere (Sp?). I was then placed on 6 months of chemo pills Hexalin and Xeloda and will finish them up next week (Praise the Lord!). For me the pills had few side effects other than being a hassle to remember taking them all.

    Best Wishes
    Phyllis

    Maintenance chemo
    All,

    I did the maintence chemo. The clinical trail I was in is GOG0212. There are specific requirements to be in this trial. If you google GOG0212 it will put you right there. It is for those with Stage III or IV. I made it through the 12 months. At the end, my CA125 was starting to go up. Had another Pet scan and it was back in my spleen which was the last place they had seen it during my first 8 rounds of chemo. I had my spleen removed last Apr, and did four more rounds of Chemo. I have been off chemo since July. My CA-125 was 13 yesterday! It's been 25 months since I was diagnosed, and I am finally starting to feel normal again.

    Take care,

    Nancy
  • saundra
    saundra Member Posts: 1,370 Member
    #10
    NancyC said:

    Maintenance chemo
    All,

    I did the maintence chemo. The clinical trail I was in is GOG0212. There are specific requirements to be in this trial. If you google GOG0212 it will put you right there. It is for those with Stage III or IV. I made it through the 12 months. At the end, my CA125 was starting to go up. Had another Pet scan and it was back in my spleen which was the last place they had seen it during my first 8 rounds of chemo. I had my spleen removed last Apr, and did four more rounds of Chemo. I have been off chemo since July. My CA-125 was 13 yesterday! It's been 25 months since I was diagnosed, and I am finally starting to feel normal again.

    Take care,

    Nancy

    Maintenance Taxol
    Well, if you read the other post you know that I only got 11 of the 12 maintenance doses down before the CA125 started back up. Stay tuned for the CT scan and physical results on the 15th. I will post when I get the results but the blood test marker is considered a good one for me. My spleen was removed at the time of the debulking and liver tumors burned out with RFA. The lower dose of Taxol was easier to take but over time (20 months of chemo) it was hard on my body. There has only been one study and it bought the average remission time of 10 months. Who is to say that my CA125 would not have started up in 6 months? We just don't know. Saundra

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