Re: Question on Oxal/Lv/5FU + PTK/ZK

[Guest guest]

Xeloda is merely a pill form. Sometimes the doseage is lowered if rbc counts

get

to low. Some have pump for 46 hours. off two weeks and then repeat and some

get the second one every third week alone. Much depends on blood panel

results

and individual tolerance. Sometimes there is a sudden drastic change and they

stop and start over. Are you in a closed study? Initially we were,but his

results were so good(then) that they opened it and he was getting the Veg F

which

became Avastin. Just a thought. Hope all works out and it is not a placebo.

Thinking and

praying Nick & Jane

[Guest guest]

Hi Loc,

I can tell you the schedule your brother will be on for the

Oxal/Lv/5FU is identical to what my Mom is on. She got her second

treatment this week. I think this is standard although I've read

where some patients are off Oxal. 2 weeks instead of every other.

They may be on Xeloda and not 5FU but I'm not positive.

I have no knowledge of the 5fu pump so I can't help you there.

Best,

Kat

> Hi all,

>

> I know each person is different so the doses would be different

too.

> However, I just want to know if the treatment my brother will be

> getting is standard for Oxal/Lv/5FU or it's a cut back because he

> might be getting PTK/ZK (it's clinical trial, so there is 50%

chance

> he will be getting placebo instead). Here is his schedule:

>

> Monday: 120min of Oxal/Lv, then 4 min of rapid 5FU. After that, a

> pump of 5FU will be installed for him for the next 22hours of

> continuous infusion of 5FU.

> Tuesday: 120min of Lv, then 4 min of rapid 5FU. Again, a pump will

be

> installed for 22 more hours of 5FU.

> Wednesday: Pump will be removed. No more drug more infusion until

the

> Monday after next.

>

> PTK/ZK will be taken everyday.

>

> This is done every 2 weeks. So he could be having no drugs for 12

> consecutive days if the PTK/ZK turns out to be placebo.

>

> Last time, when he was on Irin/Lv/5FU, he had 5FU pump going non-

stop

> for 5 straight months.

>

> My questions:

> 1. Is it because the possibility of him taking the 'real' PTK/ZK,

> hence the 5FU doses were cut back or it's just standard Oxal/Lv/5FU

> treatment?

> 2. Has anyone heard of PTK/ZK? I tried to look up this drug but the

> only news I found was the recruiting for clinical trials (CONFIRM I

&

> CONFIRM II) in Nov. of this year.

> 3. If it's a cut back dose, is it worth it trying this new drug or

> instead going for a standard Oxal/Lv/5FU?

>

> My brother has stage 4 CC with liver mets. He had liver resection

in

> July and his CEA went from 42 (prior to surgery) to 5.4 in Sep.

Last

> week, his CT Scan showed some new tumors on his remaining liver and

> the CEA last week was at 54. His clinical trial will begin Monday

> after next. We wish they could start ASAP but they don't have the

> drugs ready until then.

>

> I really appreciate any opinions or information anyone might have.

> Sometime, I feel really bad for just asking questions or opinions

and

> not giving any. But the fact is I don't really know much beside

what

> experience my brother went through. Someday, if those information

> become useful to someone else, then I would gladly help out.

>

> Regards,

>

> Loc

[Guest guest]

Hi again Loc,

Just to clarify...my Mom is on the 5fu pump for 44 hours. I'm not

familiar with the continuous 5fu pump since my Mom had standard 5fu

IV therapy until it stopped helping 8 months ago. After that she was

on Camptosar and now Oxal/5fu/lv.

Kat

-- In colon_cancer_support , " bradka12000 "

<bradka12000@y...> wrote:

>

> Hi Loc,

>

> I can tell you the schedule your brother will be on for the

> Oxal/Lv/5FU is identical to what my Mom is on. She got her second

> treatment this week. I think this is standard although I've read

> where some patients are off Oxal. 2 weeks instead of every other.

> They may be on Xeloda and not 5FU but I'm not positive.

>

> I have no knowledge of the 5fu pump so I can't help you there.

>

>

> Best,

>

> Kat

>

>

>

>

> > Hi all,

> >

> > I know each person is different so the doses would be different

> too.

> > However, I just want to know if the treatment my brother will be

> > getting is standard for Oxal/Lv/5FU or it's a cut back because he

> > might be getting PTK/ZK (it's clinical trial, so there is 50%

> chance

> > he will be getting placebo instead). Here is his schedule:

> >

> > Monday: 120min of Oxal/Lv, then 4 min of rapid 5FU. After that, a

> > pump of 5FU will be installed for him for the next 22hours of

> > continuous infusion of 5FU.

> > Tuesday: 120min of Lv, then 4 min of rapid 5FU. Again, a pump

will

> be

> > installed for 22 more hours of 5FU.

> > Wednesday: Pump will be removed. No more drug more infusion until

> the

> > Monday after next.

> >

> > PTK/ZK will be taken everyday.

> >

> > This is done every 2 weeks. So he could be having no drugs for 12

> > consecutive days if the PTK/ZK turns out to be placebo.

> >

> > Last time, when he was on Irin/Lv/5FU, he had 5FU pump going non-

> stop

> > for 5 straight months.

> >

> > My questions:

> > 1. Is it because the possibility of him taking the 'real' PTK/ZK,

> > hence the 5FU doses were cut back or it's just standard

Oxal/Lv/5FU

> > treatment?

> > 2. Has anyone heard of PTK/ZK? I tried to look up this drug but

the

> > only news I found was the recruiting for clinical trials (CONFIRM

I

> &

> > CONFIRM II) in Nov. of this year.

> > 3. If it's a cut back dose, is it worth it trying this new drug

or

> > instead going for a standard Oxal/Lv/5FU?

> >

> > My brother has stage 4 CC with liver mets. He had liver resection

> in

> > July and his CEA went from 42 (prior to surgery) to 5.4 in Sep.

> Last

> > week, his CT Scan showed some new tumors on his remaining liver

and

> > the CEA last week was at 54. His clinical trial will begin Monday

> > after next. We wish they could start ASAP but they don't have the

> > drugs ready until then.

> >

> > I really appreciate any opinions or information anyone might

have.

> > Sometime, I feel really bad for just asking questions or opinions

> and

> > not giving any. But the fact is I don't really know much beside

> what

> > experience my brother went through. Someday, if those information

> > become useful to someone else, then I would gladly help out.

> >

> > Regards,

> >

> > Loc

[Guest guest]

My husband is not on the cotinuous pump but the doses sound right until you

get to the 12 day break. Don't know if that is due to the fact he is on a pump

OR the addition of the trial drug.

I am NOT a Dr. of course but my guess is he is getting the real thing or they

would be treating him more often.

As I say this is only a GUESS.

At any rate here's praying it does the trick in helping fight this beast. I

will be reading your posts with interest.

God Bless,

Narice

[Guest guest]

Hi Loc

My hubby gets a drip of Zofran before they start the chemo. He also takes

Zofran twice a day along with his pain meds.

I'm assuming this is what you mean. The cold thing is solved by

1. Room temp drinks, at least the day of treatment. Play it by ear

afterwards. My hubby has the reaction just the few days around chemo. Be

forewarned some

get it much worse.

2. Bundle up. He will want the standard winter dress for your area. Unless

you are in the south I would buy or make him a nice cozy scarf to keep the air

he breathes nice and warm.

3. They will praobably cover him or at least offer him a blanket while he is

getting the chemo. A lap blanket also makes a good gift. there not just for

retired folk.

(I'm only 44 and DON'T have cancer but it's on my list! Add hot chocolate

with marshmallows and a fireplace please) LOL

4. My hubby will also crawl into bed and take a nap after chemo. He piles on

blankets

and wakes with a fever which can drive you nuts. wait about a half hour and

it should go right down. If not 2 Tylenol wait an hour and if it doesn't go and

stay down call the Dr.

Tell your brother to treat you nice. You deserve it! Relax if you can.

I will continue to pray for you both.

Hugs and prayers

Narice

[Guest guest]

Thanks Kat, Nick & Jane, Narice for the information. So it does sound

that's the standard treatment for Oxal/Lv/5FU. I will tell my brother

about this so it would ease his concern a bit. BTW, did they give any

side effect control drugs to go with this regimen? Last time when my

brother on Irin/Lv/5FU, they gave him Dexamethasone plus one other

drug. And I think it caused him to have continuous hiccups in the

first 2,3 days. But beside that, he seemed to be handling the chemo

well and didn't have any other major problems. We were told the side

effects this time would be different. One thing they told us was Oxal

will cause him to be very sensative to cold.

The reason he is on pump because he already has a PICC line installed

in Feb. As for monitoring hime closely, he was told to come in on the

second Monday to see the nurse for checking his blood and everything

else even though no drugs on that week.

Thanks again everyone, my brother and I really appreciate this

Loc

> My husband is not on the cotinuous pump but the doses sound right

until you

> get to the 12 day break. Don't know if that is due to the fact he

is on a pump

> OR the addition of the trial drug.

> I am NOT a Dr. of course but my guess is he is getting the real

thing or they

> would be treating him more often.

> As I say this is only a GUESS.

>

> At any rate here's praying it does the trick in helping fight this

beast. I

> will be reading your posts with interest.

> God Bless,

> Narice

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Loc,

You may have better luck in a www.google.com search if you use the

search term " PTK787 " rather than " PTKZK " (leave off the quotes).

Here is a link to an article in the Wall Street Jounal that mentions

PTK787

http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=ONCY & read=178

[snip]

After Erbitux and Avastin, the next colorectal cancer drug to reach

the market could be a treatment now labeled PTK787/ZK 222584, which

is being developed by Novartis and Schering AG. Like Avastin, the

Novartis drug is an angiogenesis inhibitor. But it's a pill, whereas

Avastin is given by infusion. Results from preliminary clinical

trials suggest Novartis's drug has some ability to shrink tumors or

halt their growth. Side effects appear to be similar to chemotherapy:

nausea, fatigue, vomiting and dizziness. But results still need to be

confirmed by a large-scale trial, which started in January.

Investigators hope to finish enrolling patients by June 2004. If

the drug is successful, the earliest it could reach the market would

be 2006 or 2007, says Epstein, president of Novartis Oncology.

(Patients in the U.S. interested in participating in the study can

call 1- or go to the Web site eTrials.Novartis.com.)

Although a pill, it apparently has side effects " worse " than

most " targeted " therapies " similar to chemotherapy " . If the side

effects OVERLAP with the other chemos they are administering at the

same time, this could cause them to cut back on dose.

Here is a link to a 'blog from a patient in a PKC787 trial. You

could probably contact him for further information on his experience

http://www.hewletts.org/archives/2003_06.html

One " red flag " I noticed was the comment

[snip]

Dr. Xiong's team is examining whether I meet all the criteria to

get

on the trial. For one, my blood counts have to be at certain levels

before starting. Also, I am required to have two procedures – one

is

that a port has to be surgically placed beneath my skin into which

the chemo will be administered by a special needle into the port. The

other is an endoscopy, where they will insert a tube down my throat

to examine my small intestines. One of the drugs can mess with the

digestive tract, so they have to have a baseline

I guess the PTK is the drug which can " mess with the digestive

tract " ? They usually don't do endoscopies unless there is some

concern about ulceration/perforation of the intestines.

Anyway, that's what I found in a quick search...I'll let you know if

I see anything else of interest out there.

Hope this helps!

Best Wishes,

[Guest guest]

Great post,I saved it. Copy to my onc...thanks Nick