Tarceva

My mon has NSCLC stage IV with mets to the bone. She is having a very hard time dealing with the side of effects of chemo, and there has been little success. Her doctor is now recommending that she try Tarceva. I have read a lot of the posts on these boards discussing side effects etc- the information has been very helpful. Just wondering if anyone has had improvement with their bone mets? her cancer is adenocarcinoma. Any information would be helpful. Thank you!!

On 5/10/2008 LisaM NJ wrote:

My mon has NSCLC stage IV with mets to the bone. She is having a very hard time dealing with the side of effects of chemo, and there has been little success. Her doctor is now recommending that she try Tarceva. I have read a lot of the posts on these boards discussing side effects etc- the information has been very helpful. Just wondering if anyone has had improvement with their bone mets? her cancer is adenocarcinoma. Any information would be helpful. Thank you!!

 

Hi Lisa,

So sorry to hear about your Mom.  It's a rough road no matter which way you go.  Probably a lot of the posts you have read were mine.

I can't speak for what tarceva would do for mets because I have none.  I have been on tarceva for a little over 19 months now and have never developed any mets anywhere.  I have stage IV NSCLC, both lungs, and tarceva is the only treatment I have ever had.  The tumors in the one lung are now gone and the main tumor in the other lung is almost gone.  So I am very grateful that tarceva has worked for me. 

There are side effects, primarily rash and diarrhea, but they are manageable.  Mine were under control after a few months and there are plenty of meds to combat the side effects.   I don't know what I would have done without it.  They gave me 6-12 months originally.  That was wrong obviously. 

I still enjoy everything I always have and still work.  I get a little tired in the evenings but rest and then I'm ready to go again.  I'm 61 by the way.

If it were me, I'd give tarceva a try.  It will give your Mom a rest from the harsh chemo treatments and I believe you will find she will have a much better quality of life and be able to enjoy a lot more.  Another reason is tarceva is one of the few chemos that cross the blood/brain barrier to help prevent mets to the brain.  I had my brain CT scan a month ago and it was clean. 

Good luck with whatever you decide and God Bless you both.

Thank you so much for your message...this information is very helpful, and I am so happy to hear that tarceva has helped you so much.  I am hopeful that I can find someone with mets to the bone to see if it helped. The pain is so bad in her bones and i would love for her to be able to have a little better quality of life. She is 65, and I think she is going to try this.

Best of luck to you, and God bless.

Sorry to hear about your mom. My mom has exactly what your mom has. She has mets to 2 vertaberates. She had pain on the lower back and ended up getting radiation therapy for it and although she was very tired (fatigue is also marked as a radiation side-effect) after a couple of weeks, the pain was gone.

My mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 NSLC and went through Carbo platin and taxol with avastin, it worked while she was on it and then after 3 months being on maintenance on avastin her cancer showed progress to her lymphagenic pathways. She is ona  trial study now but her next option would be Tarceva.  Her back is again hurting and looks like another tomor on the bone, we are looking at another cycle of radiation.

My mom;s oncologist tells me that he has two ladies on Tarceva (stage 4 lung cancer) for the last 2.5 years. So there is hope.

Good luck.

Hello, I am sorry to hear about your mom.  My grandfather was dianosed last july with NSCLC with mets to the bone. He got on tarceva and had a pet scan about two months later.  Overall there was a significant change in the areas in both the lung and the bone.  However, in february after the third pet scan the cancer began growing again, his oncologist decided tarceva was no longer working for him and suggested chemo. He took one round of chemo in early march which made him extremely weak and nauseated. The doctors confirmed there was nothing more they could do and referred us to hospice. Unfourtunatley, he passed away a few weeks ago. But i will say, Tarceva definately prolonged my grandpa's life (quality of life too) and without it, he probably would have died a lot sooner than he did. Again, I am sorry, I hope everything works for your mom.

-Tiffany