Tarceva

Okay, mom has Stage Iv pancreatic cancer that has metastitisized to her liver. She is 58 and has always been very active and in good health. Does anyone have a family member that has taken combo gemzar and Tarceva?? If so..has the tarceva been helpful? My mom sought 2 opinions for her PC one oncologist wanted to do Tarceva and Gemzar and the Dr. my mom chose said..Tarceva is very expensive and does not buy alot of extra time.So she is currently using only the Gemzar. But, the Dr. did say if she wasn't responsive to the Gemzar alone we could try Tarceva??? Patients/Families...what's your thoughts on using the Gemzar alone..when TARCEVA is right there and may help?? 

Thanks,

Melanie 

 

 

Melanie,

My Mom was also Stage 4 with mets to liver.  She was given Gemzar and Tarceva.  The Tarceva is very expensive and she mostly was taking it every other day.  One doctor we talked to late in the battle told us it probably bought my mom another week or two.  Looking back (my mom passed in December) I don't know if my mom still would have taken Tarceva knowing what we now know.  But what do you do?  You just grasp at anything hoping.  I'm sorry I don't think I was very helpful.  Good luck and keep fighting.

 

 

Hi-

I am so sorry for your loss-  I wish I could just scoop up everyone here and embrace them.  I've never been thru anything so painful- which is selfish considering what my Mom is going thru....

 I just wondered what you meant by 'knowing what you know now'.....my Mom is on Gemzar/Tarceva (first round) and am soaking up all the information I can. 

Thanks

Maria

The drug company that makes Tarceva has ways to help you pay for the drug. isn't there a social worker helping you with the different resources to help pay for these expensive drugs

 

On 3/12/2007 Hope4jackie wrote:

Hi-

I am so sorry for your loss-  I wish I could just scoop up everyone here and embrace them.  I've never been thru anything so painful- which is selfish considering what my Mom is going thru....

 I just wondered what you meant by 'knowing what you know now'.....my Mom is on Gemzar/Tarceva (first round) and am soaking up all the information I can. 

Thanks

Maria

Maria,

What I meant by "knowing what we now know" is that unfortunately my mom was initially given 6 months after dx.  She made it almost 8 months so maybe Tarceva bought her a couple more months.  My mom did not tolerate Tarceva that well and those last two months were pretty miserable for her.  Actually the whole time was miserable as her pain was never really controlled very well, until she was in hospice at the end.

 My mom had Medicare (her Part D was through Medco) and the Tarceva fell into the donut hole and my parents ended up paying about $3,000 total for I think 3 - 30 day supplies.  One month was free from Genentech, while we were waiting for approval from Medco.  Genentech was great to work with, but after Medco approved the drug my parent's income was too high for any financial assistance.  Mind you my parents are not well off - living on fixed retirement income from blue collar jobs.  It's just that the levels to qualify for financial assistance seem to be pretty low.

I don't think my mom regretted taking Tarceva - she would have tried anything to battle this awful disease.  Your mom may be able to tolerate the drug better than mine and it may help her.  I have heard that some respond well and have good results.

 Best Wishes.

What part of the pancreas was your moms cancer?? My moms is in the tail. Although, I suppose with it progressing it will soon engulf the whole pancreas. 

Melanie 

My mom was on Gemzar and it was keeping the cancer at bay for about 9 months, but it was not affecting the numbers anymore.  So, the oncologist suggested the tarceva, but my Mom could not take the skin rash that was a side effect of that drug.  The gemzar was nice for my Mom at first because she did not have alot of side effects and she had it 1 day of week for 3 weeks and one week off of chemo. Then after about 15 months of trying chemo, the Dr decided that the chemo was killing my mom and not the cancer. I really think that the gemzar has prolonged her life, she is still fighting the battle, the Dr told us that she would not make it into the new year and here it is March and she is still fighting.  She was diagnosed in July of 2005. I know that tarceva is very expense but it may work for you Mom because she is younger.  My mom is 80 and I have heard really good results for younger patients.  We were fortunate that my Mom has really good insurance  and they covered all but $10.00 of the tarceva.  And sad to say we had the throw out that drug because she could not handle the skin rashes.  Can your Mom get some help from a state funded program like medical assistance?  Contact the Public Health or ask a social worker where to get help with the cost of the medications.  All you can do is try it and she how your Mom reacts.  It might be the drug that really works for her.

best wishes and may god bless you and your mom everyday.

 

gemzar and tarceva combination might cause interstitial lung disease (ILD) on some patients. if you choose to do that, you have to keep very close track on your mom's temperature and coughs, if any. fever and cough are typical alarms of ILD. my dad, 69, stageIIIb nsc lung cancer, right lung all taken away dec 2004, has been on tarceva for 40 days now. he got rashes right away. recent ct scan shows his liver mets are sorta stablized for now. he's feeling great other than rashes. he and his doctor decide to stay on tarceva for awhile. good luck to your mom. z.