Erbitux

Has anyone ever had a new chemo by the name of erbitux? My brother in law is on his last chance chem and its erbitux. Does anyone know what the success rate of this chemo is? He can't take cisplatin.Its effecting his kidneys. He has been fighting naso phyarangeal cancer for a little over 7 years. It has come back about three times. There is a tumor near his carotid artery so they cant operate. He can't have anymore Radiation. He's reached his limit. He was on xeloda for over a year but that didnt seem to help(pill form) Then they just recently put him on Carboplatin. He had a couple of sessions but could not take his third one due to high white cell count. But that didnt see effective enough either. So now they are trying this erbitux.(I'm so afraid now because this is the last thing they can do) Please can anyone tell me anything at all about this chemo? I think it may still be in its clinical trial study phaze. But I really don't know.Ii've never heard of it until now. I do know one of the side effects is skin rash and a sort of acne on your skin. Thanks in advance for any info.

 Denise

Hi Denise,

my S.O recently completed a clinical trial that included erbitux along with cisplatin, taxotere, 5-FU.  My understanding is that erbitux is an antibody and is now used quite frequently for treating head and neck cancer. Clinical trials have shown it to be very effective in combination with other drugs but I dont know anything about it's use on it's own.  The rash is horrendous!

I hope and pray this will be the drug that works for your brother-in law.

~meesh

I recently completed a series of Erbitux treatments, once a week for 7 weeks, in addition to 33 radiation treatments, for pharyngeal cancer which was fairly advanced and the surgeon couldn't operate unless he removed my voice box too. It is very effective for head and neck cancers with none of the harsh side effects of regular chemo. I got a rash on my face and a few other annoyances but overall it's not too bad to take. I saw my surgeon two weeks ago and there is no visible sign of any cancer left, but am awaiting a PET scan to be sure. So at least for me, it's great stuff.

Thank you Word weasel and thank you Meesh. I do appreciate the feedback. You both have helped give me hope. I'll post the good news about my brother in law when I get it :)

Denise

Hiya Meeesh

 Well the only thing is that he can't tolerate cisplatin so I doubt they are mixing it with that. I'll have to find out if they are using it on its own. Again thanks you are great

Denise