Estrogen receptors on lung cancer cells

I wrote earlier that we had read of research that lung cancer patients should also stop the estrogen therapy (breast cancer and etc. stop all estrogren because it feeds the lung cancer cells).    They had done resarch on mice and found those receptors on their lung cancer cells.   I immediately quit my estrogren.    Talked to my encologist later and he said research on mice is not definitive for humans and he wouldn't have stopped my estrogen.    Anyway, I thought it might be a help because my Tarceva (which had brought my tumors down to nothing in 4 weeks) was now mysteriously letting a tumor grow after 6 months.  I was expecting years out of the Tarceva (non smoker, healthy and feeling great, female, and Tarceva has such good statistics).   Well we gave the Tarceva another 6 weeks and the tumor is still growing.   So, the mice and I don't appear to be the same.  However, no other tumors are growing in my lungs according to the latest CT Scan.   They may be growing elsewhere.  Don't know because we didn't do a PET Scan.   If I'd elected to have radiation on that one spot, we'd have done a PET Scan to see if it was the only spot growing in the body.   Wouldn't do any good to put me through the radiation if there were other spots.     I am going on a chemo regimen for 6 weeks to see if that will manage that one tumor growing next to  my bronchial tube.  Of course, if it works there, it will be working on the others in my body that might be there.   If it works, my oncologist said maybe we could go back on the Tarceva.     God is in control, right there with the plan he has.

 

After 6 rounds of Alimpta, Carboplatin and Avastin at 3 week intervals, the tumor began to grow so my doctor put me on Tarceva and an estrogen blocker December 17, 2008.  Initially the tumor shrank considerably, but has been stable for the last few months.  I have no way of knowing whether the estrogen blocker adds much to what the Tarceva does, but it has been 7.5 months since I started, so the combo seems to be working.  Good luck to us all!