Nexavar

I have been reading the message boards for quite a few months now especially about nexavar (sorafenib). This will be the last time I log in. I lost my husband 2 weeks ago aged 36 to kidney cancer, the tumour was very large when found a year ago, surgery was tried but was not possible to remove, interferon only stabilised the cancer for 3 months and then cancer started to move into bowel. Iain was on nexavar since January and we got good results about 6 weeks ago, the nexavar was killing the tumour from the inside making it "mushy" but overall size of tumour did not change. Then 3 weeks ago we found that the nexavar had killed the cancer in the bowel but left an irrepairable hole in Iain's bowel. He was getting no nourishment atall from anything he managed to eat. I have had great support around me and I offer my best wishes to all of you that are still going through this. I am not a religious person but I have met some beautiful people who are and who have helped me and my 2 boys to cope with our loss.

Dear Marion, I am so sorry for your loss. I lost my mother to kidney cancer many years ago, and her brother and daughter (my sister) have also had kidney cancer. I am glad that you have good support to help you and your sons through this terrible time. Treatment for cancer needs to be balanced so that it does the maximum harm to the cancer, and the minimum harm to normal body tissues. In years past, docs threw everything they had at a cancer in the slim hope that patients might survive. However, some of them did, but had terrible problems as a result of their treatment, which is not good. Thank you for letting us know what happened to your husband. Nexavar is pretty new, and docs may not know yet what side effects may develop in the long run. Perhaps others on Nexavar will remind their doctors to check them for this side effect before it becomes life threatening.

I am new to this board. Maybe someone will read this and help. My brother has RCC and started on Nexavar about 3 months ago. His last CT scans (about 2 weeks ago), etc. showed there was no growth which was good news. About a week after tests he developed a bladder infection and became very confused. After antibiotics in the hospital he got better and returned home still taking a pill antibiotic. But, he has continued to be confused and disoriented. At first doctors thought that maybe there was other medication problems, but now today suggest that maybe the confusion is just part of the disease process and to maybe contact hospice. What I don't understand, if nexavar stopped the growth, what is the disease process. Can anyone help?

Because of the confusion and disorientation, I would want him to have a brain scan. There is a "blood brain barrier" that keeps many medications from acting in the brain. I hope that your brother is seeing a doctor that has experience in treating patients with metastatic RCC. He can find one near him by calling the Kidney Cancer Association at 800-850-9132 . There is an email support list specific to RCC. More information is at http://cancerguide.org/kofaq/ .

Thanks so much for responding to my message. While in the hospital an MRI and xrays were done on his brain which were clear. Any other comments. I am very concerned.