has any one, especially with upsc, been treated with cisplatin and gemcitabine (gemser) for recurren

upsofloating said:

Hi Maggie
I was treated with
Hi Maggie
I was treated with Gemzar as single agent - asked my gyn-onc about combo such as cisplatin and he said he uses Gemzar alone most often. But with me, it was an issue of not impacting the bone marrow too much to allow for consistent treatments. Your bone marrow may be stronger - mine had previously been hammered with breast cancer treatment some years before, as well as carbo/taxol.

How it worked: ca125 went from 658 to 15 with 4 cycles and CT/PET both showed NED. I chose to take a 'chemo vacation', he would have preferred I continue 1-2 more cycles. Ca125 crept up, restarted 2 months later and after 3 cycles it was 14, then one more, 12 (8 cycles total in 2010). Clean PET/CT, so I'm taking another break. He suggested continuing as maintenance. If my 3-month check-up shows changes, I will consider it. Also, I was on about at 2/3's dose and only once in 8 cycles did I manage all 3 infusions per 4-wk cycle. Nevertheless as single agent it still worked.

Did you have a recent biopsy to get assay done? Knowing ahead that it should be effective is so reassuring! I have not had an assay done. Do they only check for combinations when they do assay?

Hope this helps. Annie

annie,
i did have a recent assay of a biopsy, and it turned out that the cisplatin and gemzar was the best. however, there were several other combinations that were also good. they did 16 tests, some single agent, and some combinations. none of the single agents seemed to work by itself, only in combination. i don't think i can do the cisplatin if i need chemo because i still have some lingering neuropathy in my fingers and toes, and don't want to chance any more. it does relieve me to know that there are several synergistic combinations i can take. will learn more when i talk to my chemo doctor. it did say that the cisplatin/gemzar combo on uterine cancer put people in "durable complete remission," but honestly i have no idea what that means, though sounds good. i doubt though that that meant upsc, but i don't know that for sure.

thank you for your response, i appreciate it and it was helpful. interestingly, it showed that i was resistant to gemzar as a single agent, but combined with cisplatin was the best. interesting. in any case, i'm taking tamoxifen an megace now for a month, and hoping against hope that it makes a difference. if not, i have some promising chemos to fall back on.

so glad to hear you're ned, may it always be so.

sisterhood,
maggie