Tarceva

For whatever reason, I am unable to post. If this goes through, I have a question for anyone. My husband's uncle is on Tarceva (I am a R.N. and have NEVER heard of this med). Does anyone know what the stats are for this drug. Shawn's uncle is in stage IV (liver, lung, bone, esophageal,etc). He is so weak and we wonder if it is worth being on the barrage of meds that he's on. He takes approximately 30-40 pills/day.

Thank you........Debi B.

My oncologist has prescribed Tarceva and I was able to get an enormous amount of information by going to Tarceva.com and clicking on various links. Wishing you well.
Jane D.

Hi, Just wondering if Tarceva is working. My dad has stage IV lung cancer and has tried various treatments. He just started Tarceva 3 days ago.

My mother has started taking Tarceva 10 days ago. When should it start showing improvement?

The breathlessness is still there.

Good question. My dad started taking it 17 days ago. His oncologist said he'd have to take it 2 months before he'd get his CT and PET scans to check the progress.

This is consistent with our oncologist's opinion too. However, I got the impression that some of the symptoms should start improving sooner than 2 months.
My mother had fluid in her lungs and the oncologist suggested we monitor it - presumably because the Tarceva would help. The discomfort and breathlessness reached a point where the fluid had to be tapped.

We're now wondering whether to consider Iressa or something else.

Good luck

I am a Stage 3b large carcinoma patient. I am on Tarceva and it appears to be working for me. Less harsh side effects, but there are still side effects to deal with...nasuea, rash chest & up with acne. I look like a Native American Indian now. My face is very red on top of my already dark skin and Asian hair.

My doc last month told me that my cancer is stabilized and that the lymph on my right side was dead. It was rubbing up against a nerve so she recommended it to be removed. The surgeon confirmed that it was more dead than he originally thought. So I'd like to think this is working elsewhere.