Severe Sutent Side Effects?

Hi,

My mom was recently diagnosed with RCC--she has no mets and no lymph involvement, but her tumor is very large, extending up through the vena cava.  She just finished her third cycle of Sutent, with favorable tumor response.  Unfortunately, she's experiencing pretty severe fatigue/weakness as well as nausea and vomiting.  She's 78 years old and, prior to her diagnosis in August, was fairly active and, we thought, healthy. Now, she can barely get out of her chair.  The dr. reduced her Sutent dosage from 50 mg to 37.5 mg, but it's still knocking her out. 

 Does anyone have experience with these side effects?  What helps?  Dr. has mentioned reducing dosage again (25 mg) in the hopes that this will help, but in the meantime, I'm desperate to help her feel a little better.

Thanks so much!

Leslie 

It is good to hear that your mother has had a favorable tumor response - although to me the only really favorable tumor response is one where the tumor is eliminated completely or else stabilized and no longer malignant.

Oleander extract either eliminates or greatly relieves all known side effects of chemo, including hair loss (with the sole exception of eliminating hair loss when the chemo of choice is Cisplatin).

For more information, please refer to this other post I made today:

http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,18998

On 12/18/2007 Moms kid wrote:

Hi,

My mom was recently diagnosed with RCC--she has no mets and no lymph involvement, but her tumor is very large, extending up through the vena cava.  She just finished her third cycle of Sutent, with favorable tumor response.  Unfortunately, she's experiencing pretty severe fatigue/weakness as well as nausea and vomiting.  She's 78 years old and, prior to her diagnosis in August, was fairly active and, we thought, healthy. Now, she can barely get out of her chair.  The dr. reduced her Sutent dosage from 50 mg to 37.5 mg, but it's still knocking her out. 

 Does anyone have experience with these side effects?  What helps?  Dr. has mentioned reducing dosage again (25 mg) in the hopes that this will help, but in the meantime, I'm desperate to help her feel a little better.

Thanks so much!

Leslie 

 

I recently lost my brother to RCC and he was taking the cancer drug sutent.He was being seen by the DR.s from the John Wayne Cancer Institute in LA,Cal. The drug he was given failed to respond what it was designed to do. After ebing on the drug for under two months, he showed side affects of extremely high blood pressure, rapid heart beat and difficulty to breathe.this was caused by the drug.when hisonicologist attempted to contact phizerd,they never returned his calls. My sister in law waited over seven months for the death certificate beacuse the coroner overturned his death from the cancer drug sutent.He ltierally couldnt complete a sentence w/o grasping for air to breathe. It was a sad death for him.

Hi I hope your mother is making some progress. I am 60 & have RCC with mets across my lungs and adrenal gland, I had a kidney removed as I had a huge tumour present. I took Sutent x 50mg for 6 rounds. Side effects were poor circulation, severe rashes and irritation, memory issues, pychological and emotional issues, also hand and foot syndrome. A CT scan then showed the drug had stopped working after some huge improvements, I had also stopped taking the drug just prior as the side effects were too much for me. I have since had no further treament - none available and none offered! Throughout this time I was seeing a naturopath and I am now on a 100% trad Chinese medical regime and special diet. I am now very fit, no ongoing problems and enjoying life & really never felt better. What is going on inside??  I have no idea and don't wish to know these days. I'll take it as it comes and enjoy the time I have left, a long time based on how I feel today. But who knows? So build a team of people around you and your Mum with positive thoughts and positive actions. Keep it simple as she is elderly, love her and assist her by being in good humour at all times. It's tough I know, but give it a try. Richard, Perth, West Australia

On 12/18/2007 Moms kid wrote:

Hi,

My mom was recently diagnosed with RCC--she has no mets and no lymph involvement, but her tumor is very large, extending up through the vena cava.  She just finished her third cycle of Sutent, with favorable tumor response.  Unfortunately, she's experiencing pretty severe fatigue/weakness as well as nausea and vomiting.  She's 78 years old and, prior to her diagnosis in August, was fairly active and, we thought, healthy. Now, she can barely get out of her chair.  The dr. reduced her Sutent dosage from 50 mg to 37.5 mg, but it's still knocking her out. 

 Does anyone have experience with these side effects?  What helps?  Dr. has mentioned reducing dosage again (25 mg) in the hopes that this will help, but in the meantime, I'm desperate to help her feel a little better.

Thanks so much!

Leslie