avastin

Hi.  I'm so sorry to hear about your dad.  My dad has been on avastin since April 2008.  He did experience blood clots, but those may have been a result of his brain tumors, surgery, and/or the avastin.  Too many variables to know what the primary source is.  Other than that, the avastin treated him very well.  He had a full year+ of high quality of life, and many believe its due to the avastin.

Obviously, there are some risks, etc., and it's important to talk through future treatment options and whether avastin would inhibit your dad's eligibility for those plans, including surgery.

Best of luck to you and your dad!  If you would like more info, feel free to send a private message.

On 7/27/2009 fashionbuyer74 wrote:

my dad has liver cancer and had 7 spots removed and has been advised by 2 doctors to dry avastin. he does not want to try it because of the side effects (bleeding, etc.) and he has an appointment on monday at sloan to get a final 3rd opinion. any thoughts on this drug? has anyone had any success stories or can offer any advice?

fashionbuyer:  I had 4 cycles of the avastin and taxotere from Sept. 07 to Jan. of 08.  I had wonderful results from this chemo.  I have breast ca. mets to lung and was treated with these two drugs.  I was put into remission.. I now continue with herceptin since my cancer is her2 aggressive and so far so good.  I didnt experience to many side effects from it, just nose bleeds.  They were a nuisance but I managed and they went away when the chemo cycle ended in 08.  I wish you and your Father the best, and I hope he sees good results as well.

Jodie

Fashionbuyer,

My husband is taking Avastin for Stage IV colon cancer.  The only side effect is nose bleeds (and he said he was getting them before the chemo, so maybe this is really not a side effect).  I'd encourage your father to try the Avastin.  Like all medications it has side effects.  And apparently, it cannot cure the cancer.  But is can significantly slow its progression - or halt it in many cases.  In my husbands case, he was mets to his retroperitoneum which are inoperable because there are so many of them.  I've read that Avastin can slow the progress of these mets -- peritoneal carcinamatosis secondary to colon cancer -- to the tune of 7 months.  But some folks can go on this stuff for a long time.  The oncologist treating my husband has once patient with secondary pertioneal carcinamatosis who has been on and off Avastin for 2 years.   My husband is living a good quality life too.  While I cannot say for sure if Avastin would be right for your father, please encourage him to look at its benefits.  It slows cancer, sometimes for a few months but oftentimes it slows it significantly... and can and does extend life. 

Paula Jean 

Fashionbuyer,

My understanding is that Avastin shrinks existing tumors and slows their growth.  Then, sadly,  the body becomes immune to Avastin's benefits and this chemo stops working.  Tolerance to Avastin varies from person to person.  For example, in my husband's case, I've read that Avastin on average, will slow the growth of secondary peritoneal mets by 7 months before the cancer progresses.  But there is one woman being treated by my husband's oncologist, who has similar secondary colorectal mets to her peritoneum, and she's been on Avastin off-and-on for two years now and she's doing OK.  So, much depends on individual's responses to this particular chemo agent.  I'm hoping Avastin will work a very long time for my husband (who is currently NED and it's just about 7 months into his journey).

It is also my understanding from recent medical studies, that potentially curative outcomes have achieved when secondary colorectal mets to the liver can be resected via surgery -- typically when the tumors have "shrunk" to a size that makes the patient a candidate for surgical procedures.  In short, from what I've been reading, curative results can happen in some Stage IV cancer patients.  If your father chooses to go on Avastin, and if he can tolerate it, this chemotherapy might be able to shrink his liver tumors to a size where they can be potentially resected via non-invasive methods, like "cyberknife" for example, which is a targeted radiation beam honed straight in on the tumors, or radio frequency ablation therapy, which I believe can work on smaller size tumors - or even by more tradition surgical methods where a portion of the liver is removed. 

At minimum, for most patients, Avastin will slow the growth of the cancer. Avastin (as a therapy combined with other chemotherapeutic agents) is not considered a curative modality, but can oftentimes prolong life with good quality of life outcomes. 

Paula Jean     

<><><><>my husband has lung kidney liver cancer  they put him
on avastin every 3 weeks. and he's cancer is shrinking and he has had
no proublem with bleeding. he is also on the drug plavix because he has
4 heart stents.

and he has no bleeding at all i was scared of bleeding because of the
plavix.hope he had no side affects other than being tired. but you know
everyone is different

hope things go go for you all 

<><><><>my husband has lung kidney liver cancer  they put him
on avastin every 3 weeks. and he's cancer is shrinking and he has had
no proublem with bleeding. he is also on the drug plavix because he has
4 heart stents.

and he has no bleeding at all i was scared of bleeding because of the
plavix. he had no side affects other than being tired. but you know
everyone is different

hope things go good for you all