Tarceva & Alimta

My father has been on tarceva and unfortunately it was not helpful. His tumor has grown. The doctor has put him on alimta and I was wondering if anyone has had any success using this drug to treat non small cell lung cancer.
Thank you ....

My sister just had her scan after 6 rounds of carbotaxol + cisplatin. She has been on Tarceva since her diagnosis at stage IV NSCLC 6 months ago. Though her scans showed a GREAT response to this regimen, her recent scan has shown re-growth of the tumors in her mediastinal space and in her adrenals. She is starting on Alitma Thursday and continuing on the Tarceva. I would love to hear from anyone on this regimen as to their experience with this combination second line. We are concerned that the duration of her response to the previous therapy was only 6 months, and want to know what to expect.

To NSCLCfamily- My father was on Carbo and Gemcitibine with a great response and minimal side effects for 18 months. When it stopped working, he was switched to alimta because of a good reputation with minimal side effects. The Alimta almost killed him. He thankfully survived five weeks in the hospital with neutropenic fever, renal failure and his digestive system shutting down.

Alimta is a great drug, but one has to be careful to check kidney function before starting Alimta. My father was given the standard dose for his body mass. If the dose had been adjusted for poor kidney function he might have avoided the severe near-fatal reaction he had. The reason he had poor kidney function was from the Carboplatin chemotherapy. Apparently chemo drugs in the platinum family are very tough on the kidneys, and this effect is long lasting, even after chemo is stopped.

Your posting was from two weeks ago, so the Alimta has probably already begun. My father's reaction was within three days. Please make sure they are monitoring the kidney function, because as I found out the hard way, not every doctor knows.
Please let me know how things are going.

Everyone else, Alimta is a good drug, but make sure dosage is adjusted if there is any question of kidney function. We had a choice of three drugs, we chose Alimta because it had the least amount of side effects. If we had been told about the kidney risk, we would have chosen another drug. My father's lung cancer is thankfully not progressing, but he probably will never fully recover from what Alimta did to him. Good Luck.

Hi Helen,

My mother has been on Alimta for something like 29 cycles (every three weeks). Until recently, Alimta has been effective in holding her cancer at bay....essentially a stalemate. From what we are told, typically patients last about 18 cycles before it starts to wear off.

I think her experience with Alimta was pretty good. She didn't have too many side effects, fatigue and some slight disorientation. However, the disorientation may have been due to the steroid that they gave her to control rash as a side effect (decadron). It turns out that she was very sensitive to decadron dosing, as she previously had the cancer metasitize to her brain. Apparently, after brain surgery, and use of decadron to control swelling there, you become sensitive. Once we adjusted the dosage, she was fine.

As I understand it, Alimta side effects are mild compared with Tarceva. It appears that rash is very likely 75%, as well as diaherea. I am hopeful that Tarceva will be both effective, and have side effects that are somewhat tolerable. For my mom, I think quality of life is a very big factor.

I hope Alimta works out for you...
Scott