Tarceva Didn't Work

My Mom was on tarceva for three months and it didn't work at all for her. The cancer tumors have grown along with another one showing up. The doctor suggested cemo but only once a month. I asked if this was aggressive enough and she said yes. I'm not so sure. I think she thinks my mom  is just worried about loosing her hair. I was wondering if we should get a second opinion. The family including myself are very confused. We will find out more when my mom gets the port put in for the cemo. I didn't get the name of the cemo but she also said something about an anti-anhibitor along with the cemo. I guess I'm just putting this out to see if anyone has experienced this or can offer any suggestions. We want her to be her for as long as possible and also with quality of life. She is very upset and confused. I think we all put a lot of faith in this drug. We had heard so much positive feedback.

Thank you and good luck with your battles.

Peggy

definately get other opinions; I was on a three week cycle of chemo...two drugs one week,one of them the second week and then a week without. Then the cycle started over.I did this for four months. It worked well at first, but then stopped  and I needed to change treatment.. Then the  doctor put me on Tarceva, which has worked very well over a three month period 100mg dose(there are different doses to try as well as other oral drugs) and my tumors have shrunk to almost zero. Its always good to talk to more oncologists,some of whom include alternative therapies,nutrition, acupuncture, chinese med herbs etc. which I find helps a lot.

Best wishes,Jane

Hi Jane,

Just want to thank you for responding to this post.  I may be going on Tarceva soon and it's encouraging to hear it has worked for others.

I just came off 6 cycles like yours of chemo and though it worked very well initially, the Drs feel I have gotten all I'm going to get out of them. They are now switching me to radiation, 5 days a week for 5 weeks.   I'm waiting to hear if I'm a candidate for Tarceva as I hear it only works in Squamous cell, non-small cell Carcinoma of the lung if you have the EGFR mutation so, they are testing the tissue for that.  Sounds like Tarceva worked well for you so, am praying this might be a winner for myself as well.

 Be blessed..

Lisa

Hi Lisa...I just sent you a private reply...Thanks for writing! Your note made me feel not so alone in this struggle...