On Tarceva 7 Months

Have been away from this board for awhile. My mom NSCLC Satge IV is now a 1 year survivor and has been on the Tarceva for 7 months :However, a CT in May showed slight growth in a couple liver mets and her CEA in May was 20 but shot up to 70 in June. The odd part is her liver enzymes were up a little in May but back down in June. She goes for a CT tomorrow along with more lab work so we will see what is going on. She feels great and is still enjoying life and still has the attitude that she will give the cancer one hell of a fight. She still even goes to work twice a week! She is 81 with no other health issues. If we see more growth on this CT the doctor says he will have to take her off the Tarceva, which is causing mixed feelings as it could be what is keeping her feeling so well. He is talking chemo again either Altima or taxotere with avastin. The avastin frightens my mom as it has the increased risk of bleeding problems including stroke which increases in the over 65 yr group. I think she would rather let the cancer win then have a major stroke and spend the last few months of life as an invalid. The choices are never easy are they? I am thinking if it is only growth in a few liver mets we should have the cyberknife doctors take a look and see if they can zap them, Though my mom's doctor says it will not make any difference.How could that not increase survival to get the only growing mets out of there? Livers regenerate so would it not help prevent liver failure for awhile longer if they were gone? I think doctors are too stuck on the protocols which to me at late stage cancer is a joke. Some of the people that have survived the longest are people that found doctors who stepped out of the protocol and took a chance. She is eating very well so we are pumping up her nutrition to help build up her immune system in case it comes to more chemo. I do believe that given the right nutrition the body can heal itself of any thing but the problem lies in getting the right nutrients! Tomorrow's CT will direct her future and I have read that Pray helps too so ask any of you reading this to say a little prayer for her. I feel alittle anxious and most of my out of the family support system have been undergoing their own traumas the past couple of months so it is nice being able to come to this board just to chat about it. I welcome any input as we learn so much more from those in the same boat then we do from the doctors. I send my prayers to all of you in your fight. JanMarie

How is your mother? Please update as I have been praying for her...

Thanks the prayers and for asking about my mom. She is still feeling great says she has not felt this good for about 4 years! Last week we got the July CT results and I could tell by the bounce in her step and the extra happy attitude that my mom had conviced herself that because she feels so good that the news would be good. I think she also felt if she showed her doctor just how alive she is and how well she feels that well he just would not give her bad news. Well it did not happen like she wanted it too as the truth is those two liver mets continue to grow largest went from 1.5 cm to 3cm. The lung is stable and showing no masses or nodules right now so our problem is those darn liver mets. I brought up Cyberknife again and after a few minutes realized the doctor really knows nothing about it as he kept telling me they can only do the brain and spine with cyberknife, well I just kept pushing him until he did admit that he does not know much about radiology oncology that his speciality is Chemo. Now don't you think it would have been easier to just come out and admit that rather then try to bluff your way around it? He sent us to Kaiser's radiology oncologist who we saw yesterday and I do not know why as she did not even have the CT with her and only told us that the" other specialists" feel Kaiser could do RFA or a stereotactic radiology in place of sending her someplace for cyberknife. At the very least I was hoping she could go over the CT with us so I know for sure that it is only those two mets growing and that the other liver mets have not grown at all but having never seen the film she could not even do that much..so frustrating! We are now in the process of trying to get records sent to Stanford to see if she is a cyberknife candidate and to see if Kaiser will cover any of it (doubtful about that!). I would not be against RFA but it is more invasive so would rather do cyberkniife but we do not always get what we want do we? My mom did go for a B12 shot today before I came home to work the weekend( we live 120 miles apart which involves a trip through LA and lots of traffic for me)Next Wed she will start back on chemo and is going to get Alimta. I am hoping she is one of the people that finds it to be a breeze and sees results too. She did well with her other chemo and the Tarceva so lets hope that luck holds. Hopefully she is enjoying her weekend and Monday the man that has done her hair for years is going to take her to IMAX to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 3D so she will have a good laugh before starting chemo. I hope things are going well for you.For anyone else reading this my advice is learn as much as you can as it seems doctors only know what they specialize in thus if you want the best treatment it may be up to you to research it and then push the doctor to listen. My prayers go out to all of you involved in this battle, lets hope we can all be responsible for turning the corner in advanced Lung cancer treatment. JanMarie

I read with interest your letter re:your mom. I too have been on tarceva since Jan 31 for treatment of lung cancer. I was diagnosed in Sept with stage IIIB NSCLC with an inoperable 4cm tumor in my upper left lung. It came as a total surprise. The only symptom I had was a slight cough that wouldn't go away. I was in general good health and had never smoked (I did have some exposure to second hand smoke when I was younger-I'm 57 now). After two cycles of chemo not working and feeling really bad it has been great taking the tarceva. With lots of prayers and that great pill when I had my cat scan done in April the tumor had almost disappeared. The doctor said it was microscopic. I just had a follow-up cat scan August 8 that showed some new densities in the same area that we are rechecking this week so I don't know what's next. The doctor said maybe more chemo. I also researched RFA and was very impressed by what I found out. It sounds like a wonderful option and is a relatively easy procedure with only a one night hospital stay in most cases. I too have Kaiser in So Calif and found out there is a doctor in the Oakland facility that does RFA. I spoke to my Doctor in early April and had my records sent to him to see if I was a candidate. The tarceva had worked so well he said I wasn't because there was nothing left to "cook", but I still consider it an option if the new tumors grow. Right now I'm just concerned I may have to go off the tarceva because my liver enzyme is raised. If you have any info on that let me know. All the best to you & your mom-she is in my prayers. Carol

Please let me know how your Mother is doing. Your last message on the board is dated 8-5-05. My Mother has lung cancer and is thinking about taking Tarceva and I would like to hear from you about your Mother's progress in the last two years.

Thanks so much and I hope I hear good news from you concerning your Mother.