On 6/26/2009
melian wrote:
Hi Cowgirl wishes,
My mother just got diagnosed with something similar. She also has NSCLC and it was found when they drained fluid out of her right lung and it was positive for cancer cells. That was exactly how my mother was with a horrible cough and shortness of breath because of these fluid that kept building up in her right lung which was a pleural effusion. Is this what the doc found? My mother's had not spread anywhere else either but because she had a positve cancer cells in the pleural space that is why she is at the same stage as your father. We had original went to see an oncologist here locally and they gave us absolutely no hope! So we went and got a second opinion in Houston at MD Anderson and they have given us sooo much hope. Her doc is aggressive and he says he doesn't know how much time my mom has because everything goes by old textbook and doesn't include all the new research drugs. He said there are people still out there and it has been 5 years but everyone is different. My mother was started on a new research drug called to Dasatinib that is being researched in pts with cancer in the pleural space like your father. This is they only treatment that he has been on since she got diagnosed 2/09 and it is working and keeping the cancer from growing/spreading. This drug does have some side effects but are very small compared to the side effects to the Chemo given through the IV. You all should definetly get a second opinion until you all find a doc that is aggressive and willing to fight with you all like we did. Best of luck. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I know how devasting this kind of news is!!
GOD Bless you and your family
- Missy
According to Wiki, it said that drug was used for other cancer type?? Watch out on its toxicity level.
Regards,
Victoria
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Dasatinib, also known as BMS-354825, is a drug produced by Bristol-Myers Squibb and sold under the trade name Sprycel. Dasatinib is an oral dual BCR/ABL and Src family tyrosine kinases inhibitor approved for use in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) after imatinib treatment and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL). It is also being assessed for use in metastatic melanoma.
[edit] Efficacy
In a Phase I dose escalation study published in June 2006, dasatinib was tested in patients who were resistant to or who could not tolerate imatinib.[2] Complete hematological responses[3] were seen in 37 of 40 patients with chronic-phase CML. Major hematologic responses[4] were seen in 31 of 44 patients with accelerated-phase CML, CML in blast crisis, or Ph+ ALL.
[edit] Molecular Targets
The main targets of dasatinib, are BCRABL, SRC, Ephrins, GFR.
[edit] Duration of benefit
Responses were maintained in 95% of patients with chronic-phase CML, with a median follow-up time of >12 months. In patients with accelerated-phase CML, 82% remained in remission, although with a median follow-up of only 5 months. Nearly all patients with CML in blast crisis or Ph+ ALL relapsed within 6 months.
[edit] Susceptible genotypes
Responses were seen in patients with all BCR/ABL genotypes, with the exception of T315I mutation, which confers resistance to both dasatinib, nilotinib and imatinib in vitro.
Recently Chemgenex released results of their open label Phase 2/3 study (CGX-635-CML-202) which investigated the use of omacetaxine, administered subcutaneously in CML patients who had failed imatinib and who have the highly drug resistant T315I kinase domain mutation.
Dr. Jorge Cortes, MD, Professor of Medicine and Deputy Chair in the Department of Leukemia at The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, a lead investigator in the study, presented the data. Dr. Cortes said, “It appears that omacetaxine was well tolerated in this study and durable hematological and cytogenetic responses were observed in some CML patients with the T315I mutation.” He added that “Several novel drugs have already been investigated in this difficult-to-treat population, but they have not had a reasonable risk:benefit ratio. These results suggest that omacetaxine may represent the first viable treatment option for this population of patients who currently have no established treatment options.”
[edit] Toxicities
Neutropenia and myelosuppression were common toxic effects. Fifteen patients in the above-mentioned study developed pleural effusions, which were felt to be a side effect of dasatinib. Some of these patients required thoracentesis or pleurodesis to treat the effusions. Other adverse events included mild to moderate diarrhea, peripheral edema, and headache. A small number of patients developed abnormal liver function tests which returned to normal without dose adjustments. Mild hypocalcemia was also noted, but did not appear to cause any significant problems.