Brain Radiation

Hi   My husband was dx with nsclc in oct 05 he was only 40  never smoked. Last month he was in the hospt. for a blood clot in his leg and they found three very small spots on his brain. He just  finished 3 weeks of  total brain radiation he has had a hard time coming back from this.   He had a lot of side effects from the steriods he was on ,he just finished with them. Is there anything that can help him get back on his feet. he is also on Tarciva and has a bad rash on his arms back & legs. The doctor had him stop it for a week and is lowering his dosage to 100mg from 150.  Any help would be appreciated

Hello, I am a 53 year old female.:

There is hope for your husband...but it takes time, especially coming back from whole-head radiation (which I also had). Firstly, the Tarceva does cause rashes, very dry skin and some hair loss...but, for me, it wasn't constantly like that. Sometimes I had a rash...which subsuded (a dermatologist can prescribe some topical ointment to help that), sometimes my eyelashes would fall out-just like that, but they grow back in. My skin is very dry every day, that is consistent. The Tarceva's side effects are unpredictable and intermittant...but I have been clean from NSCLC from the neck down since Dec. 2006. Now...the Tarceva does not cross the spinal fluid or brain fluid barrier...so what happened to me is this...when I was diagnosed with NSCLC back in June, 2006 (I thought I was in remission because I was diagnosed with cancer back in 2002 and had most of my left lung removed...not having had chemo or radiation, the cancer came back and metastasized to my trachea, spinal cord, collarbone and brain. I had the tumor removed from my cerebellum and began chemo for the cancer in my body.I was again pronounced to be in remission in Dec 2006 and I began Tarceva at that time, but the cancer spread to my brain.) So, the lung cancer metastasized to my brain and I needed whole head radiation and an ommaya reservoir was inserted into my brain and I received intrathecal chemotherapy for 4 treatments. (The shunt has been removed and it has taken about 3 months for my hair to begin to come in-very thinly though.) But, today I am supposedly cancer free...I get an MRI and PET/CT scans in June and continue with my Tarceva until it doesn't work for me anymore and they put me on something else.

That's just the way it goes...I live my life in 3 to 6 month intervals waiting for the scans to see if the cancer has come back. Now I try to live my life very richly during those months in between the scans...I work, I see my children and grandchildren and I try to exercise.

Hope that helps.

Ricki

My husband has stage 4 lung cancer that metastasized to his brain.  He had been doing well on Tarceva for some time when they found the tumors in his brain.  The Tarceva had caused a rash on his face that he controlled with prescription creams.  His doctors recommended whole brain radiation and told him to stop the Tarceva during radiation because it could make the rash much worse.  So perhaps the severe rash was caused by a combination of Tarceva and radiation.

Good luck.  My husband is going on 36 months from his stage 4 diagnosis and is still here, working and watching our children grow.  He is a non smoker with a family history of breast and lung cancer.  We've found that there are amazing doctors and amazing drugs. 

Hi. I'm newly diagnosed w/ NSCLC - mets to rib and brain. I just got through my second of 3 weeks of whole brain radiation. Next week we have to make decisions re: chemo - conventional or combined w/ Tarceva somehow. I've been through radiation before, and the effects are long lasting, but hey - that was for a different cancer 6 years ago, for which I've been declared "cured", only to get this now. Any advice from those who've been here, done that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. -Chuck

My husband has stage 4 nsclc with met to the brain. Docotors radiated the entire brain, also the hilar of the left lung and the femur. They replace the entire femur with a rod. Now it came back on the quadracept over the rod; a giant tumor. The doctor said he could not have any more chemo or radiation and ordered hospice. Could I ask you where your husband is going for treatment? My husband never received the Tarcevia (not sure of spelling) you are describing. I wonder why??

My husband was given Tarceva at Sloan in NYC and he was stable on it for about a year and a half.  What worked for us was to hammer him hard with standard chemotherapy and then maintain him on Tarceva.  His first chemo was Cisplatin and Docetaxol.  The Cisplatin had side effects that made him too sick so after 3 treatments, he switched to Carboplatin and Docetaxol.  It worked just as well without the side effects.  He then took Tarceva for a year and a half.  After the lung cancer started to grow back, he went back to Carboplatin and Docetaxol.  After 3 treatments, he became allergic to Carboplatin and continued with Docetaxol by itself.  It also worked very well by itself.  However, this did not stop the cancer from metastasizing to his brain.  This we have treated with whole brain radiation for 4 tumors, then removal of one tumor, then SRS, then a study for Patupilone and now Sutent off label.  The Patupilone shrank his lung and brain mets for 3 months and then stopped working on the brain.  His lung cancer is now stable and he is taking Sutent.  We are hoping it will work on both the lungs and the brain.  He has been on it for 3 weeks and seems better so my sense is that it is working.  I just don't know for how long.

 Good luck.  I hope this helps.