mitoxantrone vs carboplatin

Hello all. I'm new here.  My furry princes, an 11 year old Beagle named Abbey, has recently been diagnosed with TCC.  She started with frequent urination in late June and was given clavamox for a suspected UTI.  A few weeks later symptoms returned.  Convenia was administered, Ultrasound was clear and unire showed no growth.  It was then thought to be hormonal. Started DES (diethystilestrol) treatment and things seem to improve.   More frequent and orange urine returned early October. 

    October 18th, vet seed RBC in urine and funny looking cells, but this may be due to infection.  Prescribed Baytril 68 and asked for urine again in 1 week to check progress. October 27h urine shows no change fro the 18th, ultrasound shows to masses in trigone regio.  Urine sent to histology and on October 29th they state the" The atypia of the cells iis sugestive of TCC. November 1st - Went to Michigan Vet Specialist to see a vet oncologist. After reading my vet's report, the histology report, an abdominal palpatation and rectal exam, she is comforatable saying it is TCC with out doing more definative and invasive testing.

 She recommends Chemo with Piroxicam.  The Piroxicam arrives today.  Had to be compounded down to 3mg pills. The Vet oncologist also took blood for a CBC and to asess renal function.    We will do an ultra sound before the first treatment and again before the 3rd treatment to see if the chemo is reducing the tumors.  If no change we will just keep her on piroxicam. I can't afford either chemo treatment long term unless it is a wonder drug that will cure my baby and let her live another 2-4 years.  A CBC will be done before each treatment and 1 week after each treatment.  Our chemo options are Mitoxantrone or Carboplatin.  If we go with Carboplatin, she will also check Abbey's creatinine.  Mitoxantrone is $661 per treatment and Carboplatin is $437 per treatment.  I love my little princess with my entire being, and I want to do all that I can for her, however, we just got done helping to pay for a humen funeral, so money is tight.   Assuming her blood work is fine, does any one have any experiance or stats for Mitoxantrone versus Carboplatin?

 Thank you in advance for your input

     Abbeymom

 

 

We have done surgery followed by Mitoxantrone for TCC. It is my understanding that the side effects for Mitoxantrone are less than Carboplatin and I assume that is why Mitoxantrone is the first choice for TCC. Both our oncologist and regular vet feel that there are a lot more risks with Carboplatin if our dog comes out of remission. For you, I think the question for you is which would be more effective, since you may only get to do one. Discuss this with your oncologist.

Hi, I found your message when doing research on Carboplatin. My wife and I have had scotties for more than 20 years (as pets, not for breeding) and we've had one die from liver cancer, two die from bladder cancer and one currently has bladder cancer. We've had quite a bit of experience with Mitaxantrone with sort of mixed results. Our first Scot with bladder cancer was "pre-Mitaxantrone" and she just had surgery and daily Piroxicam. She was cancer free for three months and she lived about nine more months. Our Scot Sherman has bladder cancer about 3 1/2 years ago. he had aggressive surgery, five rounds of Mitaxantrone, and continual daily Piroxicam treatments. He was free from the bladder cancer for three years - although last fall he was diagnosed with both prostate cancer and cancer in an adrenal gland. We bit the bullet and did six more treatments of Mitaxantrone with no effect - and which he didn't tolerate as well as his first exposure (but them he was 14). About the time Sherman was diagnosed with his newest problems, our little girl Tardis, was diagnosed with TCC. She had radical surgery last April (65% of her bladder was removed). We started her on Mitaxantrone (five treatments in all). Turmors started to grow back after two months, and the Mitaxantrone was initially good (reducing the size of the tumors), but they started to return. Our oncologist changed to docirubicin (two treatments with no impact). After an ultrasound yesterday, she has a new tumor and as a last resort the oncologist changed her to Carboplatin on a tighter schedule. She didn't tolerate it well overnight, and that was why I was doing some web searching this morning. I was sort of taken aback by the price you are being charged for the mitaxantrone (does this include the administration?). Three years back our vet got it and was charging us about $300 per dose. This past year, he suggested we go to the University of Wisconsin for a consultation with their veterinary oncology department. We did, and hey were willing to ship the mitaxantrone directly to our vet for him to administer it. The price had dropped dramatically and we were paying about $160 a dose (while horribly expensive, better than $300 or your $600. So you might want to check to see if your state has a veterinary school or veterinary teaching hospital. They may be game to "monitor" treatments by your local vet, and you may be able to get the drug at a lower cost. regards and best of luck to you and your pooch! Bob